For a few weeks I have been hoping and praying to have some revival in my heart this Easter weekend. I’m seeing a lot of posts and emails about Holy Saturday, so I thought I’d clip a few and share them in a post today, Saturday, the in-between day, the messy-in-the-middle day. I needed these words of comfort and thought you might too.
Becky Carpenter, One Day Closer Ministries.
The Sting of Saturday
It’s Saturday. It’s real. It hurts. The reality of what happened yesterday can’t be comprehended. The violence and chaos of yesterday is now replaced with calm, piercing quiet. A quiet that is unfamiliar. A quiet that is loud and painful. A quiet that comes from crushed hearts.
I can’t help but relate to the fully human action that took place on the cross. The connection I feel with Mary as she watched her child die violently. The agony of helplessness she felt wanting to protect Him from pain. I have that ‘scene’ in my heart of driving up to a violent crash and seeing my child’s broken and bruised body lie limp. I understand Saturday. I’m living Saturday. I’m living Saturday every day as I walk by an empty bedroom, as I sit at the table with an empty chair, as we take new family pictures and will forever have an absent family member. Saturday hurts.
Our circumstances we experience in this life sting. We have darkness and we live with the pain, the uncertainties and the sadness of Saturdays. Yet because of what Jesus did on Friday, He’s living in us, walking with us, while we endure these painful Saturdays. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)
He CHOSE to suffer for us yesterday, so that we can survive our suffering today. He made that choice so that this mom can survive Saturday. He gives me reminders that there will be tomorrow. He teaches me, encourages me and shows me there will be my own Sunday. A time and place of resurrection, restoration, revival, and of REUNION.
We have to tell others that if they are living in the sadness and struggles of Saturday, tomorrow is Sunday!
Easter weekend is my favorite holiday. It is the most powerful, yet gentle holiday for our family. It reminds me that as much as Saturday hurts, I can look forward to Sunday.
Even ordinary people like me can turn on a small light in a dark room.
Even if each day you wake up and you’re living the darkness of Saturday, choose to turn on the light. Jesus chose to stay on the cross on Friday. It is now our turn to choose to turn on the light this Saturday.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)
Feeling Stuck in Saturday? Me too! BUT, there IS hope! Sunday IS coming! Reunion IS coming!
Thank you, Jesus!
John Ortberg, Who Is This Man
This isn’t Sunday. This isn’t Friday. This is Saturday. The day after this but the day before that. The day after a prayer gets prayed but there is no answer on the way. The day after a soul gets crushed way down but there’s no promise of ever getting up off the floor.
It’s a strange day, this in-between day. In between despair and joy. In between confusion and clarity. In between bad news and good news. In between darkness and light.
Everybody knows Saturday.
Saturday is the day your dream died. You wake up and you’re still alive. You have to go on, but you don’t know how. Worse, you don’t know why. Saturday is the day when nothing happens. That’s not quite right. Silence happens on Saturday. After trouble hits you, after the agony of Friday, you call out to God. What in God’s name happened? “Hear me! Listen to me! Respond to me! Do something! Say something! Rescue!”
Nothing.
The miracle of Sunday is that a dead man lives. The miracle of Saturday is that the eternal Son of God lies dead.
As long as I’m still here on earth I will be stuck in “Saturday,” but my mind and heart don’t have to be. I’m hoping, searching, working and walking in my grief journey, but I’m changing my focus from being stuck in the suffering and confusion of Saturday to, Sunday is Coming. I need to remember that God is with me and weeps with me over the death of my son.
Walk with me, wait with me, trust with me…Sunday is coming.
You never would have picked this journey, but you are walking with such Grace and being a powerful tool to encourage others. Thank you for your Discipleship ❤️✝️🙏🏻😘 Patty Fenn, Ozark, AL