
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster. —— Joel 2:12-13Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. —— Matthew 5:4
Mourning isn’t given a lot of value in American culture. Most of us do whatever we can to “move on” from the pain of mourning and towards happy feelings. This is not the case in many other cultures around the world. Some cultures will having a mourning period that lasts more than a month with practices like wearing black the entire time, not bathing, not cleaning, and publicly crying in groups for days. The Bible shows us an idea of morning that is much closer to these other cultures.
In the biblical perspective, mourning is a necessary and important human experience. When Jacob thought his son Joseph was dead, he mourned for many days (Genesis 37:34). When Moses died, the people of Israel wept and mourned for thirty days (Deuteronomy 34:8). Even Jesus himself publicly mourned at the death of his friend Lazarus. (John 11:35)
One way the Bible demonstrates that we can mourn is through fasting. Fasting demonstrates a reliance on God and forces us to drop reliance on other things like food. When we are mourning- truly mourning- nothing can comfort us like God. Fasting can give us the tools to truly feel the powerful and healing experience of mourning and come closer to God.
Growth Challenge- Remember Mourning
Mourning isn’t going to look the same for everyone. Some of us could really benefit from fasting during this time and others will not. Furthermore mourning isn’t something we can exactly plan on a calendar, but we can all plan that it will happen at some point.
-Keep this form of fasting in your back pocket if you’re not mourning. It could be one of the best responses to your time of need.
-Be healthy. It might not make sense for you to fast from food, but fasting from social media and news might help you focus and mourn well.
-Be in community. Let others in on your mourning. Jesus mourned with others around- we can too.
-Try this form of fasting if you are mourning and using fasting as a means to rely on God. Be sure to be healthy and be in community. Consult proper doctors if needed.