A Dark Sabbath – Dr. Charles Stanley
Just as Christ once rested in the stern of a boat through a
raging storm, He rested in the tomb as storms raged within His disciples. A day
after Jesus’ death, fear, doubt, and grief must have cycled endlessly through
their minds. Memories of their lives with Him must have played there too: how
it felt to stand upon a rolling sea, to feed thousands with a few loaves of
bread, or to see Lazarus’ burial clothes heaped in the dirt. No doubt their
hearts grew sick with confusion as they contemplated these things.
The disciples’ feeble faith
shouldn’t surprise us, because if we’re honest, we see it in ourselves. The
“little of faith,” as Jesus often called them, failed to believe or remember
things the Lord said of Himself—that He’d lay down His life and take it up
again. Had His followers faithfully held these things in their hearts, that
Sabbath day might have been a time of joyful anticipation.
At times in our lives, God may seem absent, but ultimately we
know that He will never leave us (Heb. 13:5). And unlike the disciples, we’ll
never experience the dark prospect of a failed Savior. But many times we forget
the promises of God. In the face of uncertainty, how frequently do we turn to a
“do-it-yourself” Christianity to fix our problems?
Too often we look no further than our own solutions, when what
we need is the wonder-working power of Christ’s resurrection and a posture of
humility as we wait on Him. If we are willing to wait through the darkness of
night, we can rest in knowing that morning will surely come.
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