One day of darkness...
At yesterday’s Good Friday service, I sat behind this.
Our baptism pool, empty and covered up. New life so imminent, and yet not quite.
On Saturday, the church waits. But our waiting is active. We wait prayerfully and with expectation. We wait on the One who died so that we might live.
During tomorrow’s service, not only will we be celebrating the life of our risen Lord, but we’ll be also be cheering on those who have made a decision to follow Jesus and are getting baptised.
New life on all levels. A day of celebration!
Perhaps today you’re waiting for signs of ‘new life’. In your family, your work or your business perhaps?
Today, I want to urge you to wait with expectation. Right now it might seem dark and things may appear hopeless.
But the ‘new’ you seek isn’t lost or missing. It’s simply waiting until it’s due time to be revealed.
In Matthew 27:62-66, we read of the Pharisees gathering before Pilate to remind him of Jesus’ claim that He would rise after 3 days. They wanted to ensure that THEIR agenda and what they believed to be true, was what was front and centre.
They wanted to be right more than they wanted to be saved from their sin.
They demanded that Pilate have the tomb secured so that the disciples couldn’t steal the body and say ‘we told you so’. But the truth of the matter is that the schemes of man pale in insignificance compared to divine direction and plans made perfect in God’s timing.
So try as they might, NONE of their attempts on Saturday could have stopped what happened on Sunday.
Darkness has its hour but the sting of death is not definitive.
The Father hadn’t lost control when Saturday hit and it all went dark. There was a plan. There always is.
Corrie Ten Boom once said: “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the driver.”