#Sundayscoming

-
I've been seeing #Sundayscoming a lot this season and I get it and I love it - yes, Easter Sunday is just around the corner - Alleluia, Amen, Christ will be risen from the grave!

 But today it's Saturday.

 Typically I miss Saturday.  I observe Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.  I leave sanctuaries sad and solemn, aware that the payment for my sin was causing Christ great pain. I exit awed and grateful.

 And then it's this morning and I watch the sun come up and plan my Easter menu and activities and do some baking and cleaning and generally have a regular day because I already know what's happening tomorrow.  

 And I miss it.

 I miss where we actually live; we live here in the "Now what? Saturday".

 Any loss, after the shock has lessened, brings this question.  Loss of ability, of a job, of a position, of possessions; after the incredulousness of  "I can't believe that just happened" comes the "now what?".

 The older I get the more friends I have who are experiencing the greatest loss, the death of one they love. Spouses, friends, parents and children have left their lives. I see their posts on Facebook on anniversary's of deaths, the times they're overwhelmed and reaching out for comfort for years afterwards...death has ripped their lives apart and I wish that their"Saturday" was only short time the disciples experienced. 

 Now what?

 Now that all we understood and were believing in and hoping for has been rendered cold and lifeless, now what?

 Now that our closest companions are despair and hopelessness, now what?

 Now that all my conscious and unconscious expectations for the future have forever altered, now what?

 Where is Sunday?

 I believe that for those of us who love God Sunday is coming.  
He's promised to never leave us (Hebrews 13:5) and that He gathers all our tears in a bottle. (Psalms 56:8) He knows our every sigh (Psalms 38:9) and heals the brokenhearted. (Psalms 147:3).
He has assured us that all things are working together in a plan for our lives that is ultimately for our good and His glory to make us more like Him. (Romans 8:28,29).  

 I think that's powerful; knowing that our Saturday's are not random tragedies but part of God's plan. From our perspective two thousand years later we can say to the grieving and confused disciples, "Hold on, Sunday is coming". 

 And today, in your Saturday, it's true for you too.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

There is a man named Don Casey

-
Image
There was a man named Job. He was a godly man (...that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil - Job 1:1) A careful man ( When the days of the feast had run their course Job would rise early...and offer burnt offerings...For Job said, 'It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts' Job 1:5) A faithful man   (...this Job did continually. Job 1: 5) A man blessed by God. (...this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. Job 1: 3) but then, apparently , he wasn't. His children were crushed when the house collapsed, enemies and fire destroyed all the animals and servants. He was a man suddenly engulfed by calamity and inundated by infirmities; covered in boils from head to foot. His wife told him to curse God and die. His friends told him all he had done to deserve such judgement from God. And Job wondered about it all and  asked God "Why?". There is a man named Don Casey.
Read more

Friends

-
2008 has been such a relational year so far for me. I set up a Facebook account and from there discovered high school and college friends and even kids I used to baby-sit who now have growing families of their own. It’s been a time of reconnecting to people I never knew I’d have contact with again and it’s been interesting to see how we are the same people today that we were twenty years ago; only a little more worn out from use! When I was a child, I remember hearing in a sermon that in your life you will be lucky if you can count the number of true friends you have on one hand. That was preposterous to me! One hand? Five friends? I had way more than five friends! Of course I didn’t have the perspective at twelve that I do now. Now I understand. My definition of friend has matured with my years and I am so blessed by those “friends” who have matured along with my definition. Is there any thing in this world as amazing as a friend? One with whom you can open your soul and know they are
Read more

Safe

-
My daughter came stumbling into our room at 4 a.m. “I had a bad dream”, she said as she crawled into bed. Did she want to talk about it? An immediate, adamant “No!” Ten minutes she was sound asleep safe in her dad’s arms. Safe When she experienced this bad thing she went to where she would feel safe. Later in the morning she told me about her bad dream and it wasn’t as scary to her in the 7 am brightness as it had been in the dark. Could we have explained that it wasn’t that bad and just a dream to her in the middle of the night? Not a chance, at that point she just needed to feel surrounded and protected. When trouble comes, overwhelming troubles like the constant crashing of waves on the seashore, where do you go to be safe? I wrap myself in scripture and claim the promises that God is… a refuge and help in time of need (Psalms 46) the Shepherd who supplies my needs and walks with me through the valleys (Psalms 23) the God who knows the way that I am taking (Job 23) who delights in e
Read more