What about Saturday

Growing up as a baptist believer, I never gave much thought to Easter Saturday or Holy Saturday as liturgical churches call it.  I knew the emphasis of Good Friday, that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. And I know why we celebrate Easter Sunday, the day that Jesus rose from the dead.  But I never gave much thought to Saturday.

In fact, I have often wondered, why Jesus did not rise from the dead on Saturday, instead of Sunday.  I know the prophecies, but God could have had the prophets speak that on next day or second day, He rose again.  Again, I know that three days ensured that everyone knew that Jesus was in fact dead, but having endured the beatings, the torture, and a spear driven through his side, I am not sure people would have questioned it.  (Yet as I write that statement, I know that people have questioned whether Jesus was really dead or not.)  My point though stands if people did not believe he really died and rose again on the third day, the second would not have made much of a difference.

So again, I ask why Saturday?  I think there is a very important lesson that we can learn about Saturday.  God is still in control of our Saturdays, just as much as He is on our Fridays and Sundays.  Let me explain.  We all have Sundays.  Sunday is the day that God manifests Himself in great ways.  On Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead.  We all have mountaintop experiences (Sundays) when God moves in tremendous ways.  We know His presence with us and it is wonderful.

We also have our Fridays, days of suffering, days of doubt, days of hurt and pain.  Yes, on Fridays, we may even question God's love and presence with us.  But we know He is there.  As C.S. Lewis said, Pain and suffering is God's megaphone.  In the deepest of valleys, when everything else is gone, I know and have felt God's presence. 

Saturday is the in between day.  It is not a mountaintop and it is not a valley. We spend most of our lives on Saturdays.  There are no great manifestation of his presence and there are no great trials.   But even there, God is in control and He is a part of our life.  On Saturday, God is quiet but He is still there.  On Saturday, we may not see Him move, but He is still there.  On Saturday it may seem like He is silent, but He is still speaking.  He speaks on Saturday in a still small voice.  Our job is to listen for Him.  We seek Him on the mountain, and we most definitely seek Him in the valley.  But we also need to learn to seek Him on the plateaus and in the meadow, and on the plains.  He is there, and He is in control.  It is Saturday, are you listening.  Think about it.