“none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth” [Esther 4:2]

“none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth”. Was this edict designed to keep grief and mourning away from the palace area? If so, it failed.
Rather than banning sorrow, we need to carefully tend it. Remember the gracious way that Elijah dealt with the woman whose grief was beyond words at the loss of her only son.
While Ahasuerus may have used the king’s gate to lock out his distraught and sorrowing subjects, the higher court of heaven knows no such exclusion. It could be said that the sackcloth of sorrow for sin must be worn before the blood-washed garments of righteousness can be donned.
Because you bear inexpressible sorrow you will never be excluded from the feet of Jesus. He will listen to you, lift your burden and lighten your load. He mends the broken-hearted.