no matter how many times i’ve heard the story and know the outcome..
i find the pendulum of my heart always swinging from the soberness of good friday to the anticipation of sunday.
but this morning i woke thinking,
“what about Saturday? the day in between?”
aren’t these the toughest to get through?
when there has been a death – to dreams. to a business. a marriage. a family. a future…
the life you thought you’d have.
those days you feel you’ll never survive, make it through, but when you do, what then?
when reality sets in and hope runs faint.
when you know there is a sunday coming. of victory. of resurrection. but you wonder..
and i think of the disciples, how they must have felt after the Lord’s death.
they knew His promise.. heard it with their own ears, that He would rise again.
and yet i’m sure that day in between was the longest ever.
when everything they had been taught and believed hung in the balance.
when the sunday dawn seemed it would never come.
these are the days where most of us live – the days in between.
coming from one into the other.. turning as book pages in the wind.
and though past hurts and deaths grow faint it’s always the question of what we’ll do with now.
i’m sure the disciples wondered why Christ couldn’t have risen on the 2nd day.
why the 3rd?
why that day in between?
but, isn’t it those days that test what we believe most?
here where our faith lasso’s to both ends -
of death, of victory,
and is pulled to its tightest and strengthened.
when we question all we’ve known. what we’ve heard. grown up with.
and it seems not much has changed in human nature in 2000 years -
“is He really who He says He is? can i trust Him?”
as we sit in our rooms of doubt and fears, same as the disciples.
those in between days when we want so desperately to believe that there is resurrection ahead
but death cuts sharp, even shocking and we’re left with empty hands and face bent, “but, Lord?”
and the enemy’s seeming victory weighs heavy. the friday of deaths hard to bear.
how many times have i found myself just like the disciples. hiding. fearful. faith so dim.
the in between days i never thought i’d get through.
but i love what sunday brings…
the promise fulfilled. the grave empty. death defeated. victory won.
and my favorite part – a Saviour coming after us!
the morning the women discovered the tomb was empty i’ve wondered,
“why didn’t Jesus just wait for them there?” He knew they were coming!
and it makes me smile because it is always this way..
a Saviour seeking us. pursuing us!
and who did He come to first.
a woman! mary magdalene.
someone who i’m sure knew a thing or two about death. about the days in between.
and then his disciples.
those waiting. those fearful. those tainted with pasts. and weak in faith.
these are the ones He went looking for.
and even thomas. oh, how i love that doubting thomas.
when even days later and still he did not believe what he had heard.. he had to see it for himself.
it is one of my favorite scenes in the Bible.
the Lord’s invitation to thomas to touch his scars.
to come closer.
not turned off by his doubt. his wondering. his lack of “godliness.” his humanness.
but welcomed him – just.as.he.was.
“reach your hand here, put it in my side…”
and isn’t that just like Him?
on those in between days though it seems all is lost. that his word isn’t true. that hope is gone.
it is never!
He is always coming after us.
in our rooms of doubt.
in our rooms of fear.
of sin.
of immorality.
of rebellion.
of bitterness.
of addiction.
of abuse.
of pain.
of death.
of dreams dashed.
He meets us where we are. and whispers, “come to my side.”
and what religion in the world has a God like that?
not one worshipped from afar. but one we can draw near and know and call, “Abba, Father.”
none other but our God!
the God of Fridays – when all is dark.
the God of Sundays – when victory comes.
and the God of all the days in between.
forever.
there is hope.
because of Him.
