(You might remember me writing about this a year ago. We still need the reminder!)
Saturday. It means a lot of different things to different people. Maybe for you it’s a day to sleep in. No school. No work. Perhaps it’s a day to catch up on home chores. Or meet a friend, or visit family. Maybe for you Saturday is a day for a new adventure, a day trip or the start of the vacation of a lifetime. Just over a year ago, my mom and dad spent one of their Saturdays at sea waiting for a place to come home from.
Sometimes, the world news touches home. As the world watched the coronavirus pandemic unfolding in February of 2020, you may remember the report of a cruise ship that had been denied entry to ports because the ship had picked up passengers in Hong Kong where cases of the virus have been reported. My parents were among the passengers boarding in that city. No one on the ship was sick, but because of so much unknown about COVID-19 and fear of spreading the virus, no country would allow the passengers to dock and tour, or even to disembark and go home. Dad said the cruise line did it’s best to make the best of a bad situation, but the cruise as planned was cancelled and the one goal became to find a place from which to let the passengers go home. What was supposed to be a cruise to sites in Asia became a different kind of adventure, one for which the conclusion remained uncertain for quite a while.
The truth is that we are all in the same kind of adventure. In your life and mine things rarely go as we have planned them, right? You are in the middle of a situation right now where the end is still unclear, aren’t you? Me, too! The pandemic continues for one thing. None of us really knows the end of that story, although we feel like we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel now that vaccinations are underway. But there are other things going on in my life and in yours. I know how I’d like mine to resolve, but I can’t make it happen. You are in the same place, right? When you think about your current unplanned adventure, does it make you anxious? Can I share something with you that has helped me to navigate this kind of time with hope?
Every one of us is in the middle of what could be called “a three day story.” Now, I know that your story, and mine, is lasting more than three days, but let me explain. This idea of a three-day story came from pastor, teacher and author, John Ortberg. In his video study, Who is This Man? (Click for info https://youtu.be/IPRebnWYlDQ) he explores the transforming influences that Jesus had on a variety of societal norms, such as the treatment of women, children and the infirm. In one of the sessions, he focuses on Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. On the Saturday after Jesus died his disciples did not know what we know. They did not know that Jesus would rise from the dead, that on Sunday they would be celebrating and that life as they knew it would be forever changed by the presence of the Living Savior. They didn’t know. Ortbeg points out that on that Saturday nothing happened. Nothing. It was the Sabbath. No work happened, For the disciples, the only thing that happened was mourning for their dead teacher and wondering what the future would hold. They had no clue how their story would end.
Friday was the day when all hope was lost. On Saturday, the future was unclear. But Sunday brought resurrection and hope. A three-day story.
You and I are in the middle of a three-day story. We don’t know how our situations are going to resolve, but we can put our trust in our God who has written the ultimate three-day story. His three-day story plays out over and over again in nature and in countless lives like yours and mine. Regardless, of what is happening, or not happening, in your difficult, even painful, situation, there is an end coming. It will resolve. Resurrection will happen in one way or another.
In my three-day story, I can picture the conclusion I hope for. Sometimes, I even try to manipulate how the story is going through my attempts to influence the people in it, or even through the way I pray about it. But I don’t get to write the end. I have to trust the Author with my story because He is the one writing it. Are you ready to trust Him with yours?
So, when Mom and Dad were in the middle of their three-day story, they didn’t know where they would come home from or when they would get there. But, they did get home. Their three-day at-sea story ended, and with a lot of fanfare! In fact, they had their picture in news reports around the world as the Prime Minister of Cambodia welcomed them and their cruise mates off the ship. Now that whole period is a memory. A good memory in the midst of a troubled time. But there was that Saturday....
For you, my friend, be encouraged. Your three-day story will end. it will resolve. Some day you will be able to summarize the whole adventure in a sentence. No matter how long it lasts.
It may be Saturday, but rest in knowing that your Sunday is coming.
Key thought: You are in the middle of a three-day story.
A Scripture to consider: “Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” Psalms 30:4-5 NIV
A YES challenge: Think about your current “Saturday.” Write that situation on a piece of paper. Then put it in an envelope and seal the envelope as an indication of trusting God with the outcome.
Prayer: Father, I really hate not knowing the ending of my story. I know how I want it to end and I want it to end now! Help me to trust You with the outcome. Help me to trust that no matter how You choose to resolve this three-day story it will be for my good and Your glory. Amen.