Waiting in the darkness

Sinister becomes the world as darkness engulfs it. Human psychoses are enhanced as the veil of blackness descends upon the world. The shadows begin to play tricks with our minds. Evil becomes the imagination. Weird things start to lurk within the back alleys of life. Children are brought in, doors locked, curtains drawn and if a knock comes we are suspicious. Nothing good ever happens in the night.

The Saturday between the Crucifixion and Easter morning is often called Dark Saturday for the hope of the world has been killed and now lies within a borrowed tomb. Sadness over takes the believers. The followers cannot believe what has just happened. Evil seems to have won.

In Abundant Living, E. Stanley Jones shares a story. “A father was about to be operated on, and the mother and son would not sleep through worry and anxiety. They sent word to a Christian layman: ‘Please come down and stay with us at night; we are afraid. Can’t you come and talk to us? For we have nothing to hold on to in the dark.’” A doctor stands in the hallway of the pediatric wing of Shands Hospital and wonders out loud, as she witness’s parents trying to handle the news that their precious child has died, “How do people handle this horrible news without faith?” … “nothing to hold on to in the dark” … evil seems to have won ... fear takes hold ... the human spirit is defeated ... all hope is gone.

And yet, there is a surprise waiting. Just as loving parents hide the bright colored eggs for discovery come Easter morning, God is waiting in the wings of human history to pull the biggest surprise ever to be realized. “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” (from 1 Corinthians 15). And so, we wait in the darkness of Holy Saturday for the dawning of a new day … for the “joy that comes in the morning” … for the news “he is not hear for he is risen” … we wait for the good news that evil doesn’t win, not this time, not ever!

Quote for today: “Death is not extinguishing the light from the Christian; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.” Source unknown