<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a Monday morning, but transparently, this new week brings a lot of anxiety. I\u2019m steps away from a book deal with a Big 5 Publisher, and it seems too good to be true. Like the rug will be pulled out from me at any moment if I mess up or don\u2019t measure up, and it can. I could become traditionally published or not. The tension of waiting in the space between is nearly deafening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also Holy Week; the time leading up to Jesus\u2019 death and Resurrection, when dead things come alive, and miracles happen. And I\u2019m reminded that, though Jesus\u2019 story is miraculous and beautiful, it was also scary, dark, and unknown to those living it at the time\u2014people who were waiting for answers too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like Jesus’ Disciples, many of us have experienced the power of the living and breathing Messiah. We\u2019ve seen Him radically transform our lives. But we\u2019ve also experienced times of great sorrow, loss, and confusion. Even the Gospel itself can seem confusing: What kind of God sacrifices His own son\u2019s life for the sins of the whole world? It\u2019s a love we can barely comprehend. The question is, what do we do with this tension?\u00a0<\/p>\n
If we\u2019re honest, most of us love the breakthrough of the Gospel story, but we hate the silence. Everyone celebrates Sunday, but what about Saturday? What if Easter isn\u2019t just about the resurrection, but the painful, confusing wait in between?<\/p>\n
In the 21st century, we live in a culture obsessed with fast answers, instant clarity, and immediate service. Waiting feels foreign, unfamiliar, and uncomfortable when stop lights longer than a minute test our patience, and waiting in the grocery store line gives us an excuse to scroll on our phones. Even on social media, waiting isn\u2019t a part of it. We can click, peruse, and watch as many reels as we want. Not only that, but faith spaces show all the times God showed up, and rarely talk about when He doesn\u2019t. Stories show the miracles and healing, but not the hurting and helpless. But the reality is that Jesus and His Disciples didn\u2019t experience an Easter like this in real time. No, they lived in the in-between. The sacred, scary, holy, and confusing space of what they knew to be true, but also what their eyes had seen.<\/p>\n
When it comes to the Gospel story, we love the resurrection, but we avoid the waiting. And why wouldn\u2019t we, right? Without the Resurrection, you and I are still dead and enslaved to sin. It\u2019s an incredible story. But when we forget the crucifixion, the death, the pain of waiting, we miss a greater part of the story because Good Friday was a loss. The loss of the greatest man to ever walk the earth. He was sinless, perfect, fully human, and fully God. As John 1:29 quoted Him, \u201cthe Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!\u201d (NLT).\u00a0<\/p>\n
This time was incredibly dark and bleak. Everyone struggled to understand. They even began to doubt as fear and confusion swept their minds. If Jesus was really who He said He was, how could this be the end? They\u2019d all seen too much: His miracles, His power, His holiness, for this to be the end. And so, they waited in the silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, we know Sunday would be the victory, but they didn\u2019t. They hoped, and they believed, but they also saw Jesus\u2019 body on that cross. His mutilated body, torn to shreds. We often skip from Friday to Sunday, but on Saturday, it was silent. Confusion, disappointment, and grief flooded the room. They even began to question everything Jesus said. Because for them, they hadn\u2019t yet met the resolution. And sometimes, days like Saturday are when it feels the hardest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead of glimpsing past the waiting, I encourage you to sit in the discomfort of Holy Saturday and what it teaches us about whatever season we find ourselves in. Some of you are waiting on test results or guidance. Miracles and healing that never seem to come. Answers to prayers you\u2019ve been praying for decades. Maybe you\u2019ve even received bad news when you thought it would finally be good. No matter the circumstance, press into these 4 truths:<\/p>\n
1. God Can Be Working Even When It Feels Quiet<\/strong><\/p>\n When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He was doing something (defeating death). To the human eye, however, the giving up of His Spirit appeared as a failure. But as the Maverick City Song The Story I\u2019ll Tell writes, \u201cThe hour is dark, and it’s hard to see, what You are doing’ here in the ruins, and where this will lead. Oh, but I know that down through the years, I’ll look on this moment, and see Your hand on it, and know You were here.\u201d Even in our own lives, God is still working, even amidst unseen moments. God can still be working, even when it feels quiet.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2. Waiting Doesn\u2019t Mean You Did Something Wrong<\/strong><\/p>\n As the Disciples saw Jesus die on that cross, you have to wonder if they felt like they had done something wrong. Was this really the end? Were they being punished for their sins? The questions they faced are surely innumerable.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jesus was punished for our sins because that was the story God had for Him. But it was His love that held Him to that cross. He wasn\u2019t punishing the Disciples; they were merely understanding their part in the story. Sometimes the best things in life come as a result of delay, even if it doesn\u2019t feel like it in the present moment. Delays are a normal part of life, whether we wish to accept that fact or not. And more often than not, He\u2019s building something foundational in that waiting.\u00a0<\/p>\n 3. Faith isn\u2019t proven in the Breakthrough; It’s formed in the Waiting<\/strong><\/p>\n Thankfully for our story and the Disciples, Jesus\u2019 death on the cross wasn\u2019t the end. But anyone can believe when the miracle comes. Blessed are those who trust even when the waiting drags on. Because faith isn\u2019t proven in the breakthrough, rather it\u2019s formed in us in the waiting. And that waiting builds immense trust.\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. The Story Isn\u2019t Over Just Because It\u2019s Unclear<\/strong><\/p>\n Looking back over the Easter story, Saturday felt like the end. The curtain in the Temple had been torn, and the King of the world was dead. But just because something looks a certain way doesn\u2019t mean that\u2019s how things really are. Saturday appeared as the final straw. The dead-end of the road. But it wasn’t. As Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:23b, \u201cYou are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God\u2019s.\u201d (NLT).\u00a0<\/p>\n Just because something is unclear or unknown doesn\u2019t mean the story isn\u2019t over. It means that we need to develop a higher POV, one beyond ourselves and what the human eye can see or the mind can fully comprehend.\u00a0<\/p>\n This Easter, I don\u2019t know that waiting season you\u2019re walking through, but I know that it\u2019s possible to trust God while you wait. Stay connected to the vine (God) through Scripture, prayer, and community, and be honest with the Lord about your emotions. Sit in the discomfort and ask Him to help you not rush the process. \u00a0<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think any of us truly like waiting. I certainly know I don\u2019t. But even in my own season, I\u2019m learning to trust the process. I don\u2019t know what my future holds, traditional book deal or not, but I trust His purpose and timing for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you find yourself in a silent Saturday season right now, you\u2019re not alone. Unanswered prayers and uncertainty are incredibly difficult to navigate. But God is not absent in the silence. He wasn\u2019t when He died on the cross, and we were waiting for His resurrection, and He isn\u2019t now. And the waiting you and I endure is never wasted. It\u2019s part of the resurrection stories. Sunday is coming, but Saturday still matters.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph 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 large stone in front of the tomb’s entrance and left. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. \u201cSir,\u201d they said, \u201cwe remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver said, \u2018After three days I will rise again.\u2019 So give the order to make the tomb secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.\u201d \u201cTake a guard,\u201d Pilate answered.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cGo, make the tomb as secure as you know how.\u201d So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard\u201d (Matthew 27: 59-66, NIV).<\/p>\n Photo credit: \u00a9GettyImages\/alessandrophoto<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Amber Ginter<\/strong> is a teacher-turned-author who loves Jesus, her husband Ben, and granola. Growing up Amber looked for faith and mental health resources and found none. Today, she offers hope for young Christians struggling with mental illness that goes beyond simply reading your Bible and praying more. Because you can love Jesus and still suffer from anxiety. You can download her top faith and mental health resources for\u00a0free to help navigate books, podcasts, videos, and influencers from a faith lens perspective. Visit her website at\u00a0amberginter.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s a Monday morning, but transparently, this new week brings a lot of anxiety. I\u2019m steps away from a book deal with a Big 5 Publisher, and it seems too good to be true. Like the rug will be pulled out from me at any moment if I mess up or don\u2019t measure up, and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[6757,630],"class_list":["post-24418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-christian-living","tag-easter","tag-waiting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What It Looks Like to Trust God While You Wait<\/strong><\/h2>\n