Saturday, April 11, 2020

Silent Saturday before Resurrection Sunday - Morning by Morning, April 11, 2020

Morning by Morning, April 11 - Silent Saturday before Resurrection Sunday
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. On this Saturday morning -- during the days of Passover, on this day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday -- I wait and listen for Your leading in our communion of prayer together -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
 
"The next day, that is, after the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, 'Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise again.' Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, 'He has been raised from the dead,' and the last deception would be worse than the first.' Pilate said to them, 'You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.' So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone" (Matthew 27:62-66).
 
They sealed Your tomb. Between the stone and the guards, they thought surely You would be silent now. They judged You as an imposter. They were still calling You a liar and lunatic and anything else but Lord of All. And Yet, they were afraid of what might happen, as they remembered Your words of just exactly what You said would happen -- that after three days, You would rise again!
 
To the world it looked like this one who claimed to be God in the flesh as one with the Father -- Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus the Salvation of God, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Light of the World, the Living Water, the Bread of Life, even declaring "before Abraham was, I Am" -- had finally received his just reward. But what they didn't know, but what was true all along, is this:  God's not dead. He is alive!
 
That silent Saturday, that silent Sabbath, when Your dead body was sealed in the tomb, Your spirit was not dead; and Satan would not have the last word. What looked like a day when there was only silence from heaven was only a dramatic pause for what was to come! It looked pretty dark on Friday. It sounded pretty quiet on Saturday. But Sunday was on the way!
 
In so many ways, that's where we find ourselves today in our world of this global pandemic and plague of Biblical proportions. Here in our homes, "sheltered in place," quarantined in quiet, silenced in solitude, hidden away and out of commission from our everyday world, it can feel like we're sealed off in a dark tomb behind a big stone.
 
But I was so encouraged last night during the Worldwide Good Friday service, connecting our world in the Spirit with the potential to reach a billion souls on our planet, with trusted spiritual leaders leading us in worship and words of hope. America's Pastor spoke as the world's pastor last night, as Max Lucado reminded us, "God's silence is not His absence." As he encouraged us by Your Holy Spirit, "You'll get through this. It won't be painless. It won't be quick. But God will use this mess for good."
 
During these days when we're tempted to give in to fear and anxiety over our health, our finances, and even the future of our world, it may seem like You're silent. It may feel at times like our prayers are not heard, like our hopes have been dashed, and like the life of our faith is dead and buried, sealed shut and under guard behind a stone that can never be rolled away.
 
But Good News is on the way! As it turns out, and as all the world will see, God's not dead. He is alive! And because my God is alive, at work in me and at work in my world, even when it's hard to see it at the moment, in Him the best is always yet to come. He always saves His best wine for last (John 1:10); the glory of the latter house will always be greater than the glory of the former house (Haggai 2:9); there's a worldwide revival and great harvest of souls that's on the way like we've never seen (Matthew 13:39), and the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will soon cover the earth as the waters cover the sea! (Habakkuk 2:14)
 
Though Friday looked pretty dark and Saturday seems pretty silent, Sunday is on the way! By the power of Your grace, I believe it even before I see it; and I'm proclaiming it with resurrection faith in my resurrected King! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you believe it and proclaim it by the power of God's grace and resurrection faith at work with in you -- God's not dead; He is alive! and He is powerfully at work in our world to bring us through this and turn it all around for good, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

   
Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays



Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out ...
Preparing the Way of the Lord
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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