Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted

Matthew 5

As of the writing of this devotion, the reports continue to come in. This morning a gunman walked into a GOP baseball practice, and opened fire injuring Rep. Steve Scalise as well as four other people. According to reports, it could have been much worse. As I read this account, I was reminded of the shooting of Rep Giffords, and her serious wounds after she had been shot. My heart cries out, how long o Lord?
God does respond. As we mourn the events on that ball field or other shootings, God is with us comforting us. Comforting us by telling us that he is present with us at all times. Comforting us by telling us that those who have been killed due to gunshots are enjoying eternal life with him, and that we will see them again. And comforting us that the evil that is behind all of these events is defeated. Yes, the blood continues to run in our streets, but the blood of our Savior will wipe all tears away and assures us that death is no more.
When we hear news like what we are hearing, it is so easy to get discouraged depleting our spiritual tank. In other words, our devotions, our prayer time, our church time, and our quiet time all contribute to the filling of our spiritual tank, or our closeness to God, but at times when we hear news like what we heard today, it is easy for the tank to deplete or to draw away from God. Sometimes that leads to anxiety for we feel we are not close to the Almighty. However, hear the good news, Jesus tells us that when we feel poor in Spirit that God is not going away, but that we will enjoy the promises of the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, when we feel poor in spirit because of whatever, turn to this passage, and take heart for the Kingdom of Heaven is yours. My guess is with this knowledge, your spiritual tank will begin to fill. Thanks be to God.