Saturday, 30th March 2024
Bible Reading: Psalm 46:10, Isaiah 30:15
Memory Verse: Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10 (AMP)
Max Lucado once wrote: Jesus was silent on Saturday. The women have anointed His body and placed it in Joseph Arimathea’s tomb. The cadaver of Christ was as mute as the stone which guarded it. He spoke much on Friday. He liberated the slaves of death on Sunday. But on Saturday, Jesus was silent. So was God. He made himself heard on Friday. He tore the curtains of the temple, opened the graves of the dead, rocked the earth, blocked the sun in the sky, and sacrificed the Son of God. Earth heard much of God on Friday.
Nothing on Saturday. Jesus was silent. God was silent. Saturday was silent. Easter weekend discussions tend to skip Saturday. Friday and Sunday got the press. The crucifixion and resurrection command our thoughts. But don’t ignore the silent Saturday.
Silent Saturdays! The day between the struggle and the solution; the question and the answer; the offered prayer and the answer thereof. Saturday’s silence torments us. Is God angry? Did I disappoint Him? God knew Jesus was in the tomb, why didn’t He do something? Or, in your case, God knows your career is in the trenches, your finances are in the pit, your marriage is in a mess.
Why doesn’t He act? What are you supposed to do until He rises? You do what Jesus did. Lay still. Stay silent. Trust God. Jesus died with this conviction: “You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay” (Acts 2:27 NIV). Jesus knew God would not leave Him alone in the grave.
You need to know, God will not leave you alone with your struggles. His silence is not His absence; inactivity is never apathy. Saturdays have their purpose. They let us feel the full force of God’s strength. Had God raised Jesus fifteen minutes after the death of His son, would we have appreciated the act? Were He to solve your problems the second they appear, would you appreciate His strength? For His reasons, God inserts a Saturday between our Fridays and Sundays. If today is one for you, be patient. As one who endured the silent Saturday wrote: “Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord” (James 5: 7 NKJV).
Quote: When God is silent, He is not still. God does some of His best work in the dark. Trust Him, He is there.
Prophetic Decree: The God of suddenly shall appear suddenly unto you, in Jesus name.
Prayer Focus
1. Thank you Jesus for the wisdom between your death and resurrection.
2. Please help me to be still while you work to bring every word you have promised me hastily to pass, in Jesus name.
3. I receive grace to wait upon the Lord till the end without wavering in faith, in Jesus name.
4. Holy Spirit, please jerk up my faith, in Jesus name.
5. Though the night may tarry, my joy shall surely come in the morning, in Jesus name.
6. Arrow of perennial waiting, backfire, in Jesus name.
7. Dear Lord, help me to believe You even when I can’t see or feel you at work, in Jesus name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judges 1-2