This year, the Lord has drawn my thinking to the silence of Saturday in the Easter story. The request for his body was made because of the upcoming Sabbath and they were able to get His body in to the tomb, but not completely ‘prepared’ for burial as they all went back home and prepared spices and ointments. (Luke 23:56) Then, they all rested the Sabbath and were unable to finish what they had started as we find them in Luke 24 coming early in the morning with the prepared spices to the tomb and finding the stone rolled away. The grand story of the crucifixion and the glorious exclamation of the resurrection - but what about the quietness in between?
Hope deferred. Promises paused.
Was the power of God in man truly sufficient to conquer death? Was all that He said and taught a sham? It would have been so easy for Christ to have immediately come back to life after having been placed in the tomb. Why the wait? Why the delay? Why did Christ have to stay dead for 24 more hours? In the questions and the wait, faith was tested, grief was real, hearts were breaking and hope was losing its light. Haven’t we all had those moments where the questions screamed louder than the promised answer, where our hearts struggle with the grim, harsh reality of the moment and the fulfillment of faith’s work grows dim?
In the silence between the beginning of the miraculous and the completion of the miracle our hearts struggle at times with the work that God has promised to complete.
We struggle in the quiet; doubtful of the glorious outcomes. We wrestle with hope deferred, our hearts sick with what appears to be a conclusion we did not want or anticipate. We LONG for the resurrection, but that morning has not yet dawned and so our hearts are full of fear, doubt and confusion. BUT, that morning was yet to come and the morning became all that much more glorious because of the waiting! What silent Saturday are you struggling with right now - hold on to faith, God WILL make all things right.
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