ITS SATURDAY, THE DAY INBETWEEN
John Ortberg wrote a devotional about Saturday. The day between despair and joy. You can read it in it’s entirety here: https://www.faithgateway.com/in-between-despair-and-joy/#.YGqfDC1h1pQ Below is an excerpt that was shared with me. I was touched, March for me was like one long Saturday.
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 mat. 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. Even in the Bible – outside of one detail about guards being posted to watch the tomb – we’re told nothing about Saturday. Saturday is the day with no name, the day when nothing happened. 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. The apostle Paul wrote, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day [Paul adds again] according to the Scriptures.” The Old Testament Scriptures are filled with what might be called “third-day stories.” When Abraham is afraid, he is going to have to sacrifice Isaac, he sees the sacrifice that will save his son’s life on the third day. Joseph’s brothers get put in prison, and they’re released on the third day. Israelite spies are told by Rahab to hide from their enemies, and then they’ll be safe on the third day. When Esther hears that her people are going to be slaughtered, she goes away to fast and pray. On the third day, the king receives her favorably. It’s such a recurring pattern that the prophet Hosea says, “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces… After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His presence.” All three-day stories share a structure. On the first day there is trouble, and on the third day there is deliverance. On the second day, there is nothing – just the continuation of trouble. The problem with third-day stories is, you don’t know it’s a third-day story until the third day. When it’s Friday, when it’s Saturday, as far as you know, deliverance is never going to come. It may just be a one-day story, and that one day of trouble may last the rest of your life…
Perhaps your marriage is in a Saturday state, maybe you’ve been living in a Saturday for a while or have just begun your Saturday journey… No matter where you are in the spectrum of your Saturday, Sunday is still coming. You are not alone. No matter what life ‘feels’ like, Heb. 12:5 tells us God will never leave us nor forsake us. When we’re in Saturday, we want our ways to be the Lord’s ways. It’s hard to think about what God may be inviting us to do, learn, wait on… we want Sunday.
BUT --since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:1-5)
We have been made right in God’s sight, we have peace with God and we can joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory, being with our Lord forevermore. No matter what happens here, we have that hope, --that hope that will not disappoint. As Paul prayed in Rom 15:13, "I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." "Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord." Ps 27:14
If your marriage is in a Saturday? Contact Pastor Marc. There is help, there is hope!
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 mat. 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. Even in the Bible – outside of one detail about guards being posted to watch the tomb – we’re told nothing about Saturday. Saturday is the day with no name, the day when nothing happened. 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. The apostle Paul wrote, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day [Paul adds again] according to the Scriptures.” The Old Testament Scriptures are filled with what might be called “third-day stories.” When Abraham is afraid, he is going to have to sacrifice Isaac, he sees the sacrifice that will save his son’s life on the third day. Joseph’s brothers get put in prison, and they’re released on the third day. Israelite spies are told by Rahab to hide from their enemies, and then they’ll be safe on the third day. When Esther hears that her people are going to be slaughtered, she goes away to fast and pray. On the third day, the king receives her favorably. It’s such a recurring pattern that the prophet Hosea says, “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces… After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His presence.” All three-day stories share a structure. On the first day there is trouble, and on the third day there is deliverance. On the second day, there is nothing – just the continuation of trouble. The problem with third-day stories is, you don’t know it’s a third-day story until the third day. When it’s Friday, when it’s Saturday, as far as you know, deliverance is never going to come. It may just be a one-day story, and that one day of trouble may last the rest of your life…
Perhaps your marriage is in a Saturday state, maybe you’ve been living in a Saturday for a while or have just begun your Saturday journey… No matter where you are in the spectrum of your Saturday, Sunday is still coming. You are not alone. No matter what life ‘feels’ like, Heb. 12:5 tells us God will never leave us nor forsake us. When we’re in Saturday, we want our ways to be the Lord’s ways. It’s hard to think about what God may be inviting us to do, learn, wait on… we want Sunday.
BUT --since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:1-5)
We have been made right in God’s sight, we have peace with God and we can joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory, being with our Lord forevermore. No matter what happens here, we have that hope, --that hope that will not disappoint. As Paul prayed in Rom 15:13, "I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." "Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord." Ps 27:14
If your marriage is in a Saturday? Contact Pastor Marc. There is help, there is hope!
by Patti Calderon
Posted in Marriage
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