"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."
Isaiah 43:1-3
There are 7,000 promises in the Bible. I would like to address one of the most important in this article. Easter has passed and life goes on for all of us. For many there will be joy but there will be those who do not experience joy due to doubt.
To simplify things I would like to look at three important days:
Good Friday - the day Christ was crucified. Pain.
Saturday - the day of confusion and doubt.
Easter Sunday - the day of joy.
Good Friday was the day of pain for Christ and all of His followers.
The next day, Saturday, there was confusion and doubt among His followers. How could this happen? Was this not the Messiah? Why didn't He save Himself? What is going to happen to us now? Was He really the One? The Messiah?
Easter Sunday was the day of joy. Jesus arose from the the dead and many people saw Him as He walked the earth and preached the Kingdom of God for 40 days before His ascension into heaven.
We have all felt pain in our lives. We live in a fallen world and we will feel pain again in our lives. We know it. We don't like it, but we understand what pain feels like.
We also know what Easter joy is like. It feels wonderful and we have not doubt or confusion. We are happy.
But what about Saturday? That is what I want to focus on in this article. What about those who are caught between the pain of Friday and the joy of Sunday? They are stuck in Saturday and cannot seem to move on to the joy of Sunday?
I would like to call these people the, "Saturday," people. They still live in doubt and confusion. They ask questions like, "Why did God let my child die? Why did God let my son-in-law die? Why didn't God save my loved one I prayed so hard for to live? Why didn't God intervene when I prayed so hard for Him to do so?
Some Saturday people cannot bring themselves to ever forgive God and are clearly stuck in Saturday. Others just are not sure about God and if God can really be trusted. A lingering doubt hangs over their head like the Sword of Damocles. The doubt can feel like one lover towards another lover: "does she really love me?" The joy of conviction is not there. The lingering doubt hangs heavy and robs the lover of his or her joy that the object of one's love truly is "in love" with him or her.
When it comes to God; however, the Bible tells us that there is no lingering doubt on God's side of this issue. God is love and truly loves you and knows what you are going through. Jesus tries to explain that He must die for the sins of humanity and He must go away, but that He will return again. Jesus tells us this in John 16:20-22: "Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you."
If you are a Saturday person, it is time to come home. God is waiting for you, to hold you, and to love you and to bring comfort to your emotional wounds. God made you and God can heal you. God will give you the strength to overcome your pain and sorrows.
It's time for you to come home. God is waiting for you with opening hands. Like the father in the Prodigal Son story. The father represents our heavenly Father in that story. When He saw His son coming home He ran to meet him and kissed him and gave him a great party and gave him great joy.
It's time to come home. Your heavenly Father is waiting for you.
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