Saturday

 I heard a pastor named J.D. Greear say that we live most of our lives on Saturday. He was speaking of the day between Friday, when Christ was crucified, and Sunday, when He was resurrected. Friday was the day of catastrophe for the disciples. They were shocked and traumatized. They had been promised that there would be a Sunday, a day when Christ rose. They had a promise that was yet to be realized....on Saturday. On Saturday they had to face the horror of what had happened, and all the questions of why, and the real doubts they had about the fulfillment of His promise to them. Greear says that in many ways, Saturday is where we live as we face the real horrors of what life in this fallen world can entail, especially when the happening of those horrors are so recent. We have questions and we have doubts. Maybe you're living there right now in your faith journey. If not, you will be.

Questions and doubts will happen in our journey with Him. Mary was the first to see the risen Christ. When she told the disciples, they didn't believe her...until they saw Him. Thomas wasn't there, so when he was told, he said, "Unless I see the nail imprints and  touch His wounds, I won't believe" Then Jesus appeared, and Thomas experienced the reality of His resurrection. Charles Spurgeon said that our doubts will either take us deeper into intimacy with Him, or further from Him. We will have doubts and we will have questions. Christ calls us to bring them to Him. We have to face them. He does not promise answers in them. He promises Himself as we walk through them. One day, He promises, we will understand. Right now, He is with us. Greear says that when Christ appeared to Thomas, Thomas got a revelation of who He was. This is what He will give us in all of our doubts and questions. He will come in the way we most need Him and He will give us a fresh revelation of who He truly is, as He comes. Greear says that the wounds of Jesus assure us that He will never leave or forsake us.

A friend made me aware of a family in their church who just lost their two youngest sons to a mysterious virus that attacked their brains and nervous system. It took their lives and took them quickly. We can only imagine the shock, pain, and trauma they are now experiencing. Surely they have questions and doubts. Where was He? Why didn't He heal them? Is He really good? How could He bring good from this? Friday has happened, and now they're living in Saturday. They have the promise of Sunday coming, but all they see right now is the darkness of Saturday. Yet Christ is there, and He will not leave them alone, comfortless, or without hope. Everything I've seen in this situation tells me that they are pressing more deeply into Him. In their sorrow and suffering, they trust and believe Him for Sunday. He is with them, suffering with them, and giving Himself to them in their suffering. Horrors happen in this fallen world. They cannot keep Him from invading them with Himself.

If you're living in Saturday right now, you surely have questions and doubts. Face them. He doesn't fear them. One day, He will answer them directly, but right now, He gives you Himself. Keep walking, trusting, believing His promise of Sunday. It will come. He is with you. He will not leave or forsake you. His wounds guarantee that.

Blessings,
Pastor O