Good Friday has felt more real to me this year than it has in a while. I think maybe it's because I was greeted with the truth of my humanness more this year than ever before. Not just a spiritual humanness, but a physical kind. Two years ago I was still feeling young and invincible. Being so sick brought me face to face with what I would do if I never got better.
I went to bed last night feeling conflicted...so grateful for Jesus' death on the cross and the gift of grace He has given that that I do not deserve. I went to sleep knowing that His sacrifice means life for me- and victory. But also, a certain level of heart-ache, understanding that it does not excuse us from trials and sorrow on this earth. Being a Christ-follower does not get you a pain-free life. It does not guarantee that we won't face heart-break. And I think that's where some of us go sideways in our walk with the Lord. I know I did.
"The silent Saturday." I don't even know where that phrase came from or if I have heard it before in the past. But as it repeated in every corner of my mind, I knew exactly what it meant. It's what happens after we say "It is finished" with defeat in our hearts. The end of the road, the end of our strength. The last shreds of our hope, crucified.
When Jesus breathed His last, He uttered those words. But it was not a cry of defeat. "It is finished..." His body broken on a cross- the life went out of Him. "Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away." (Matthew 27:59)
Silence. The silent Saturday. I wonder what the people thought as they wept at the foot of the cross. It was the third day when the disciples said, "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed....we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel." (Luke 24:19,21) They had walked with Jesus and learned from Him...they had known sweet fellowship with their Lord...but now He was gone, and they were left wondering. Lacking faith.
It reminds me of the questions I have had when I read the account of Lazarus. I have often wondered how Mary and Martha felt, as they were laboring over their sick brother, knowing He needed Jesus. As their agony turned to grief when Lazarus died, there was silence from the Lord. John 11:5-6 says, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days."
Though it clearly says that Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, I would bet you that the temptation was there to believe that he didn't care. I wonder if there was any hint of accusation in Martha's voice when she said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
There are periods in our life like that. In fact, you might be in one now. I am slowly coming out of mine. I was so quietly broken before the Lord, I accused Him of not caring. There is a whole back-story to our lives before Lyme. I will not go into it, but I was already begging the Lord for rest. We had been through a weary season- a season that felt so unfair. I still remember sinking down onto the floor of my pantry, sobbing before the Lord in the only place my children would not look for me. I had just found out I had Lyme Disease, and I knew the fight that I was in for both physically and financially. It felt like too much. We had just found out that my precious middle boy was having seizures. It felt like life was closing in on me, and at a time that I was begging God for rest, he gave me another mountain that I did not have the strength to trudge over. It felt like He was so silent. And I accused Him, I begged of Him and I doubted Him. I was Martha, second guessing the Lord and feeling like hope was lost.
The irony is not lost on me that the very words "It is finished" that we can utter in defeat are the very words that Christ spoke to welcome in victory. All the earth shook and creation mourned the slain lamb as the story of a Saviors overcoming love was forever written in time. In death, life was born to us. "It is finished" nailed our shame to a cross as He took the punishment we deserved. "It is finished" gave us entrance into the Holy of Holies- His Spirit in our hearts, and citizenship into a heavenly kingdom that awaits us.
The very moment that the disciples were lamenting their lost hope, it was Jesus who they were talking to. He was raised...the disciples just did not know it yet. They had heard...and they had seen with their own eyes, but they did not recognize Him. The very Jesus that they had hoped "would redeem Israel" had done just that. And He was walking among them. Read the passage of Scripture yourself in Luke 24.
We cannot see the whole story...only God can. The disciples lost sight of hope when their Savior- the one who was supposed to save them- died on a cross. They could not see how death could be victorious. Martha lost sight of hope when her brother died...forgetting that with God, death could be vanquished forever. We too can lose sight of hope, because we do not see any way in which our situation could possibly work out. We are too tired, too broken, too you name it.
So what do we do when we can only see the "It is finished" part of the story and it seems that God is silent? When, like Job, we look for Him but he is nowhere to be found? I will tell you what I have done, though I did not walk a perfectly faithful road. I doubted, but I kept clinging to Christ. I had good days and bad, and the Lord brought me through.
1. WE CHOOSE. We choose to believe that even in the dark, and though we don't see the path, that God is still making a way. A way for our hearts to go on. We choose to trust the character of our God.
2. WE REMEMBER....all that He has brought us through. We remember His death on the cross and a Saviors love that did not stop short of giving His all. Because He suffered for us, He knows pain and suffering intimately. We remember that the God who made you is the God who pursues you and loves you - He is the God that will sustain you.
3. YOU WALK ON. Faith is not based on feeling- it's based on a belief invisible. We won't always feel a spiritual high. Neither will we always feel like praying or doing the work to open His Word. But you press on in the dark, in the weary.
Why? Because there is a resurrection Sunday. Because after the silent Saturday the tomb is overcome. THE TOMB IS OVERCOME. There is hope! Jesus himself is our hope. The last words of Jesus, recorded in Matthew is balm to a weary soul. "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)
He is. He is with you. He loves you. I pray that if you are reading this post and you are in a silent saturday season, that you would feel the Lord sustaining you, and that you would feel His peace upon you. I think there are seasons where talking with a trusted authority in Christ (your pastor), or a Christian counselor are deeply helpful and needed. These trusted individuals are able to listen past the words that we are saying, and help target area's where our perspective or belief system could use a shift. They can also help support you and pray for you.
God bless each of you this Easter weekend. May we walk in the strength of Jesus and trust Him in every season. And may we each expectantly await Resurrection Sunday. Mary and Martha, the very ones who wondered where Jesus was while Lazarus died- were the ones who waited at the tomb. (Matthew 27:61) They knew where their hope was from. Through the dark, and in the waiting....faith was born.
When Jesus breathed His last, He uttered those words. But it was not a cry of defeat. "It is finished..." His body broken on a cross- the life went out of Him. "Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away." (Matthew 27:59)
Silence. The silent Saturday. I wonder what the people thought as they wept at the foot of the cross. It was the third day when the disciples said, "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed....we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel." (Luke 24:19,21) They had walked with Jesus and learned from Him...they had known sweet fellowship with their Lord...but now He was gone, and they were left wondering. Lacking faith.
It reminds me of the questions I have had when I read the account of Lazarus. I have often wondered how Mary and Martha felt, as they were laboring over their sick brother, knowing He needed Jesus. As their agony turned to grief when Lazarus died, there was silence from the Lord. John 11:5-6 says, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days."
Though it clearly says that Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, I would bet you that the temptation was there to believe that he didn't care. I wonder if there was any hint of accusation in Martha's voice when she said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
There are periods in our life like that. In fact, you might be in one now. I am slowly coming out of mine. I was so quietly broken before the Lord, I accused Him of not caring. There is a whole back-story to our lives before Lyme. I will not go into it, but I was already begging the Lord for rest. We had been through a weary season- a season that felt so unfair. I still remember sinking down onto the floor of my pantry, sobbing before the Lord in the only place my children would not look for me. I had just found out I had Lyme Disease, and I knew the fight that I was in for both physically and financially. It felt like too much. We had just found out that my precious middle boy was having seizures. It felt like life was closing in on me, and at a time that I was begging God for rest, he gave me another mountain that I did not have the strength to trudge over. It felt like He was so silent. And I accused Him, I begged of Him and I doubted Him. I was Martha, second guessing the Lord and feeling like hope was lost.
The irony is not lost on me that the very words "It is finished" that we can utter in defeat are the very words that Christ spoke to welcome in victory. All the earth shook and creation mourned the slain lamb as the story of a Saviors overcoming love was forever written in time. In death, life was born to us. "It is finished" nailed our shame to a cross as He took the punishment we deserved. "It is finished" gave us entrance into the Holy of Holies- His Spirit in our hearts, and citizenship into a heavenly kingdom that awaits us.
"It is finished" ALLOWED DEATH,
so that LIFE could be raised from the dead.
The very moment that the disciples were lamenting their lost hope, it was Jesus who they were talking to. He was raised...the disciples just did not know it yet. They had heard...and they had seen with their own eyes, but they did not recognize Him. The very Jesus that they had hoped "would redeem Israel" had done just that. And He was walking among them. Read the passage of Scripture yourself in Luke 24.
We cannot see the whole story...only God can. The disciples lost sight of hope when their Savior- the one who was supposed to save them- died on a cross. They could not see how death could be victorious. Martha lost sight of hope when her brother died...forgetting that with God, death could be vanquished forever. We too can lose sight of hope, because we do not see any way in which our situation could possibly work out. We are too tired, too broken, too you name it.
So what do we do when we can only see the "It is finished" part of the story and it seems that God is silent? When, like Job, we look for Him but he is nowhere to be found? I will tell you what I have done, though I did not walk a perfectly faithful road. I doubted, but I kept clinging to Christ. I had good days and bad, and the Lord brought me through.
1. WE CHOOSE. We choose to believe that even in the dark, and though we don't see the path, that God is still making a way. A way for our hearts to go on. We choose to trust the character of our God.
2. WE REMEMBER....all that He has brought us through. We remember His death on the cross and a Saviors love that did not stop short of giving His all. Because He suffered for us, He knows pain and suffering intimately. We remember that the God who made you is the God who pursues you and loves you - He is the God that will sustain you.
3. YOU WALK ON. Faith is not based on feeling- it's based on a belief invisible. We won't always feel a spiritual high. Neither will we always feel like praying or doing the work to open His Word. But you press on in the dark, in the weary.
Why? Because there is a resurrection Sunday. Because after the silent Saturday the tomb is overcome. THE TOMB IS OVERCOME. There is hope! Jesus himself is our hope. The last words of Jesus, recorded in Matthew is balm to a weary soul. "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)
He is. He is with you. He loves you. I pray that if you are reading this post and you are in a silent saturday season, that you would feel the Lord sustaining you, and that you would feel His peace upon you. I think there are seasons where talking with a trusted authority in Christ (your pastor), or a Christian counselor are deeply helpful and needed. These trusted individuals are able to listen past the words that we are saying, and help target area's where our perspective or belief system could use a shift. They can also help support you and pray for you.
God bless each of you this Easter weekend. May we walk in the strength of Jesus and trust Him in every season. And may we each expectantly await Resurrection Sunday. Mary and Martha, the very ones who wondered where Jesus was while Lazarus died- were the ones who waited at the tomb. (Matthew 27:61) They knew where their hope was from. Through the dark, and in the waiting....faith was born.
