Mourning Dove

I love hearing birds’ singing, but there is no bird that stands out to me like the mourning dove. The mourning dove is appropriately named because “their soft, drawn-out calls sound like laments.” The cry of the mourning dove is pleasing, but there is a hint of sadness within it. This call is joyful and somber, the perfect blend of beauty and pain (to hear the call of a mourning dove, click the link to a YouTube video here). 

Such a combination is comparable to the life of the Christian. We sing praises to God and, with the help of His Spirit, live our lives for His glory; but our song, at its best, is still tinged with sorrow. We all go through trials in life, and many of us have endured hardship that, before we experienced it, was unimaginable. When we lift up cries of faith to our Father or live in obedience to Him, it is a broken offering. Though Christ has made us whole and complete, until we are with Him in glory, we remember and bear the scars of pain, loss, and suffering. 

But this is part of the beauty of an offering we make to the Lord. Just as gladness and ache coincide in the call of the mourning dove to create beauty, a broken offering from one of God’s children gives Him glory. When a parent who has lost a child continues to serve and love the Lord, it speaks to the power of His comfort in our hurt. When someone forgives and loves their enemy who has wounded them most deeply, they say to the world that Christ’s forgiveness can wash away any abuse. When a cancer patient tells everyone of the steadfast love of God, even in their physical and emotional pain, God’s presence in the valley of the shadow of death is seen evidently. 

Are you broken and hurting? Are you in pain and in need? You don’t have to wait for your pain to subside to worship God, for it is even more touching when God’s children give Him the praise He is due despite our circumstances. 

Let the cry of the mourning dove remind you to offer up your song to God. Though it may be tinged with sorrow, it is a beautiful thing when the people of God sing and continue living for Him through their tears. 

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” Psalm 42:11, 43:5