Day 31- God Never Condemned Mourning

In this crazy ride called Life, there are twists and turns, ups and downs, rights and lefts. Sometimes you scream for joy, other times you cry out in pain. Our Heavenly Father knows we are mortal, and can be subject to sorrow and despair. 

Sorrow is not a sin. In fact, God asks that we "are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort" that we stand as witnesses of His love and power.
(Mosiah 18:9)

However, when faith has turned to fear or apathy, and we have allowed despair to conquer our souls, we need to turn to our Savior for relief. When He asks us to become perfect like He is, this does not mean we must be perfectly happy. This means we are to have perfect faith in Christ's atonement and be continually progressing.

Once the wife of a visiting general authority told us, 

"When I am faced with trials or something brings me down, I allow myself ten minutes to be sad. Then I move on and pray for the Lord's comfort to keep me going."

For many of us, limiting our sorrow to a quick moment of grieving can be extremely difficult. Especially those prone to depression. But we must remind ourselves that it is OK to have sorrow. By giving ourselves a time limit in which we plan to strive for greater faith and happiness just proves to ourselves and our Heavenly Father that we are not willing to let Satan trap us in despair.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose 
under the heaven:...

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance."

-Ecclesiastes 3:1,4

There is a time and place for joy and sorrow. But we must remember that in order to contribute to happiness in this world, we must be happy more often than we are sad. This is possible through the comforting grace of Christ's atonement.