The Waiting Day

I have been watching this rose for weeks.

It was the first tight bud that appeared as the bush began repairing itself after the winter hibernation. I was so excited. I waited.

And waited.

Slowly color appeared and the bud began to open little by little. It braved the blustery winds of March and survived the April caterpillars.

Today, this Saturday before Easter, on this day I call the waiting day, the rose has fully bloomed, and it is beautiful!

Waiting. How we hate it!

We want what we want, and we want it now! We don’t like not knowing, and we don’t like uncertainty.

But Mary and John and Peter and James and all the other followers of Jesus waited on that Saturday before the Resurrection Day. They had heard His promises. They had listened to His voice. They had walked with Jesus, but on that day His voice was silent, and they couldn’t touch Him or hear Him. So, they waited, going about life, uncertain of next steps or next breaths.

We have all felt those waiting times. Times when God seemed silent. Times when life hung in the balance, and we stood uncertain of what would happen next. Would the winds of trial blow us away? Would the caterpillars win?

I can’t think about the waiting, though, without remembering the resurrection. The message of the Resurrection is an eternal message. It is written in every flower of springtime and lives in the heart of every believer. It tells me that even though the waiting is hard, and the trials are difficult, Christ has conquered death. Life wins!

Christ’s suffering on the cross paid the penalty for sin for every person. When we turn to Him in repentance, He gives us eternal Life.

Today, we remember His suffering and wait. Tomorrow, we celebrate His victory over death and the victory He gives to everyone who turns to Him in faith.

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16, KJV).

May you be blessed this Easter!