Blessed are those that weep…….For they will grow strong.

Concrete does not become strong until water is added to the mixture and allowed to dry.  Similarly, you become stronger when you add your water (weeping) to your mixture and allowed to dry.  Through our experiences we become stronger, more distilled versions of ourselves.

Your weeping right now may make you feel brittle, weak, and prone to breakage, but just like the concrete that looks crumbly at first, the mixing of the water will soon harden into a stronger substance that can withstand multiple storms.

God doesn’t promise that we won’t experience grief, weeping, or pain, but God does promise us that God will make all things new.  “And the One sitting on the throne said, ‘Behold—I am making all things new’” (Rev 21: 5).

I have an ongoing discussion with a good friend of mine about whether or not Christianity needs the resurrection.  In many ways, the moral teachings of Jesus alone should teach us how we should live our lives.  But what happens when loving our neighbor as ourselves isn’t enough?

For me, the resurrection is what makes Christianity different.  It’s the one thing that makes sense to me in the whole Jesus story.  Out of all the mess, God has a covenant of reconciliation with us, and Jesus’ gift to us is the resurrection. The resurrection is our sign that all can be made right in the eyes of the Lord.  It  means that my pain, my hearing loss, my cancer, my dad’s stroke, my mom’s cancer, my friends’ deaths, the refugees, the warfare, the racial battling, the anger, the pain in the world will all be made right.  This is God’s promise to us.  We might not know the time, the place, the how…but we are promised that this isn’t it.  Your period of weeping will end.  You will be made stronger for the experience, and ultimately, if you trust in God, all will be made well.

“My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1 2:2-4).

Anna Fitch Courie is an army wife, nurse, layperson, and the author of several books, including the “Christ Walk” series from Church Publishing and the Sally the Comet books from CreateSpace. Anna finds her calling where health and spirituality intersect.  Anna is a registered nurse and worked in health care for the past twenty years. More recently, she has been a consultant on building community coalitions on health. Anna is a graduate of Clemson University, the University of Wyoming, and Education for Ministry at Sewanee: the University of the South. She is currently enrolled at Ohio State University in the Doctoral in Nursing Practice program. Home is wherever the Army (and God) sends her.  You can find her blog at Christ Walk (www.christwalk40day.blogspot.com); on facebook at www.facebook.com/Christwalk40day; on twitter @christwalk1 and on Instagram @christwalk1.