Holy Saturday is known as the day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. It's the day of waiting—the messy middle. It's the season where you've died to what is old, but you can't quite see what's coming. It's like letting go of one trapeze, seeing the ground below you, and not yet having grasped the next bar. Holy Saturday is a holy suspension in mid-air.
I'm in the Holy Saturday season of life. And in the most divine way, it's both godly and grueling. Yes, I know I can expect God to "do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20), and I'm trusting in the good works God has already prepared for me. But let's be raw in that this "in-between" valley is where we wrestle with God (Genesys 32:22-32). And (thankfully) we walk away different.
For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
Too often, we hold back our stories until Resurrection Sunday has arrived. We don't talk about the wrestling we encountered until after redemption comes. But, today, I'm here to challenge those in the middle and speak life to you from the grave. It's Holy Saturday, and I know you can relate.
There is strength in owning the season you're in and acknowledging you don't have it figured out. Maybe you haven't realized the seeds of purpose God placed in you; you don't have that sweet baby to rock in your arms; your house is still cluttered; or, your anxious thoughts are still restless within you. You are in the messy middle. But, it's in these Holy Saturday moments that we profoundly experience the intimacy of God.
It's so tempting to rush through this season. Believe me, I’ve tried. On a whim, I recently invited one of my sweetest friends to go for a walk. We walked for several miles, and I spoke of the unknowingness I felt—having let go of what was behind me but not yet pointed to what was ahead. To others, it is exciting. To me, I would rather throw up and just get it over with.
My first reaction in this valley is to reach for numbing peace or sinful pleasures to help me cope. But it's in these blind moments that I'm learning to wrestle hard with God and to be vulnerable about where I sit in the waiting. I'm learning to allow Him to be my rest and refuge and to cry out to Him when I only have wordless groans. That is enough.
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Psalm 91:2
Maybe these Holy Saturday words minister to you, and I'm here to encourage you in this: you need to honor this season you're experiencing. Acknowledging where you are today and naming the struggle among one or two other believers is powerful. Even though we are righteous through Christ, we still have sin. We still have unrealized, God-gifted purpose. So we still toil, and that's okay.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16
In what ways do you need to pause and name the place where you are? I love what God says to Adam in Genesis 3:9:
But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
God did not say, "You're an idiot. What did you screw up now?" Instead, his first concern was where Adam was, for they walked together in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8), and the Lord missed him.
You might need to allow those words of grace to wash over you in your own heart and life. God is not tapping His foot at you, scolding you for taking the jump while still being scared. Instead, He rejoices over you as you are in holy suspension, knowing that He's got you. Zephaniah 3:17 says this about Christ's character in the riskiness of life:
The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.
Let these verses be an encouragement to you. We experience so much of our life from the posture of Holy Saturday. Yes, we know our spirit man is eternal, and we have the absolute expectation of coming good; yet, we ache because we're in the messy middle.
Do not let Satan mute you in the middle. Do not allow him to isolate and cover your voice when God gently asks, "Where are you?" Instead, be strong and courageous and respond to Him by naming the place. Then, describe the place to Him using adjectives, pictures, Bible verses, journaling. He will meet you there.
Father, this is my Holy Saturday. I have let go of the Isaac, and I'm waiting on the miraculous provision—Your provision. Yet, in my brokenness and faithlessness, I struggle to trust you. I know You have been faithful to me, but I have a long-held belief that I need to take care of myself. Please help me understand Your true character and experience it so profoundly that it surpasses all understanding, and I can be in awe as I'm suspended in mid-air by Your love.
He will meet you in the middle, beloved, because He's already there. He's done the Holy Saturday work. He's descended into hell so that He could defeat death and rise again. So trust in knowing that God loves to work in the bareness of life.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15
God does His most masterful miracles when it's lifeless, dry, hopeless, dark, messy, and unredeemed. One of my favorite Old Testament stories is from 2 Kings 3:
And while the harpist played, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha and he said, "This is what the LORD says: 'Dig this valley full of ditches.' For the LORD says, 'You will not see wind or rain, but the valley will be filled with water, and you will drink—you and your cattle and your animals.' This is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD, and He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.
Go back and read it yourself. The people were in the desert, dug ditches, and then He faithfully filled the valleys with water. It was a simple matter in the sight of the Lord.
Whatever the desert is you're traveling through, get out your harp (worship), dig the ditch (step out and do the next thing), and trust that His refreshing water will fill and refresh you. It is a simple matter. And as much as He worked through the Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, He worked on Holy Saturday, too. And then, He sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 13) because it was finished. And, He's done the same finishing work for you.
God, I have no idea what You're doing, but I trust You in this holy suspension.