Saturday Was Silent

It’s Saturday. Jesus has died, and his body has been laid in the tomb. The entrance has been sealed. Guards have been sent to watch the entrance of the tomb, to make sure the disciples can’t steal the body and claim that he rose from the dead. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, had prepared the anointing oil, but Sabbath has started so they will have to wait until Sunday morning to go to the tomb. Can you feel the weight of the sadness, the disappointment? They must have felt confused, betrayed, duped. Had they gotten it wrong? Was it all a trick? He was supposed to be the one to lead them to victory. How could he be dead?

We have the benefit of knowing how the story turned out. It’s so easy for us to look at them and think, “why didn’t they just believe what He said?” But they didn’t know what we know. They didn’t have time to reason through it. They just knew that their friend, and teacher, was gone. They had seen the miracles, felt His touch, heard the promises. But those promises often didn’t fit their preconceived ideas of what the Messiah should be. So did they really hear what Jesus was telling them? We, too, often take a word from the Lord and add our own wants and emotions to turn it into what we want to hear. Then we’re surprised when God didn’t follow through the way we pictured it. But go back to the Word. What did He actually promise? And did you wait for further instruction, or just take the reins and run with it?

So what do we do when we have a Saturday in our own lives? What do we do when we are in that place between the crisis and the solution, between our prayer and God’s answer? Friday’s burden is so heavy, and we have to carry that through Saturday. Sometimes those Saturdays are long and we start to doubt. Is God mad at me? Did I mess something up? Did I forget something? Did I not ask the right way? Has He forgotten about me? Absolutely not! There is power building on Saturday. There is anticipation building on Saturday. We feel that heavy burden and it weighs us down, but like an arrow being drawn back on a bowstring, there is strength being produced.

So take a step back and review. Have you truly offered this burden to the Lord? Are you willing to follow His lead and play the part He asks you to play in the situation, even if that means you have to take your hands off and leave it to Him? What does His promise say to you? If you don’t know, ask Him to reveal it. And then settle in to wait for Sunday. Feel the power building as you wait beneath that burden. Call out to Jesus and feel Him there helping you to bear the weight. He knows the pain of the burden and the waiting.

Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. James 5:7a

God isn’t absent on Saturday. Saturday is when He is doing his greatest work. He was breathing life back into his Son on Saturday. He is working out the solution to your problem on Saturday. The promise will be fulfilled on Sunday, but don’t try to force it to arrive. Feel the power building beneath you, and all around you. Feel your spirit growing in courage and strength. And be ready for joy to burst forth when the Lord makes the sun rise on Sunday morning.