The Day In Between

It is Saturday on Easter weekend. The day in between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. I wonder what this day was like the weekend Jesus died?

For His followers, I imagine it was a day that felt empty and lonely. They were probably all grieving. Their lives and their daily routines were suddenly flipped upside down as they dealt with the death and absence of their Messiah, the teacher they'd dropped everything for to follow every day. Now He was gone...

No more traveling from city to city without knowing why, just knowing they vowed to go where Jesus went.

No more witnessing miracles performed by the miracle worker Himself.

No more crowds gathered to hear Jesus teach, having a front row seat to the actual Messiah imparting wisdom about the Kingdom of God.

No more meals shared as they took turns telling stories about their lives, the very One Who created them listening intently even though He already knew every word and every detail.

No more joking around and laughing with each other, hearing the sound of the Savior's laugh as He joined in.

No more daily lessons, not just about eternal matters, but about who each of them were as individuals.

Their friend - because that's what He was - was gone. Now they had to shift their daily routines to something completely new while processing the death of their Savior. I can't imagine the pain they must've felt. This had been three years of their lives!

BUT, Jesus wasn't done.

He was going to rise again and give them the gift of the Holy Spirit before He left for good. Jesus told his disciples He'd rise again, but they didn't understand what He meant and they were too afraid to ask (Mark 9:30-32)... so I'm sure they spent the day crying, grieving, comforting each other, reminiscing, and talking about how they were going to move forward.

Thank goodness that when we are sitting in the same kind of place of sadness, loneliness, grief, depression, anxiety, loss, etc, that God sees the bigger plan.

God had so much more planned for the disciples through Jesus' resurrection. And if the disciples knew Jesus would be rising the next day, they probably would've spend the day in-between much differently.

If I knew what was around the corner, I'd probably handle my struggles much differently, as well.

The good news is, God is in control, and we are not. And our struggles are not lost on Him, for we have a High Priest Who can empathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15), Who keeps track of our sorrows and collects our tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8), and Who is near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18). He works everything out for the good of those Who love Him (Romans 8:28) and for the disciples, that was found in the resurrection of Jesus when their grief turned to joy upon seeing their risen King and feeling the scars in His hands and side. It was found in witnessing Jesus conquer sin and death, receiving the command to go and make disciples of all the nations, and being gifted the power of the Holy Spirit.

This, too, is where we find our hope and purpose. We may find ourselves in a "day in between" where we are left to grapple with our emotions and God is silent and we are struggling. And when we do, we can cling to these promises and look to the cross, taking comfort knowing that God has more planned that what we usually understand.

Because Sunday is coming, and there's joy just around the corner.