silent saturday

Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Easter Sunday

but nothing on saturday

silent saturday
has become a most impactful
purposeful gathering for me

sharing with you some of my experience
and the content
from this year's silent saturday
{portions adapted and expanded
from Max Lucado's devotion:
Silence of Saturday 2013}

Jesus is silent on saturday
he WILL LIBERATE
the slaves of sin and death
on sunday morning
the first day of the week
but on saturday
Jesus is silent

so too, God is silent on saturday
God made himself heard on friday
when he tore the curtains of the temple
opened the graves of the dead
rocked the earth
blocked the sun in the sky
and sacrificed
his Son
Jesus, the Son of heaven

but NOTHING on saturday
Jesus is silent
God the Father is silent
saturday is silent

don't miss the significance
of the silence

I {and YOU} have them too
silent "saturdays"
the day between
between the struggle and the solution
between the question and the answer
between the prayer and the response

silence often torments people
{as an introvert i appreciate some silence;
certainly more than my extrovert counterparts}

silence
often sends us spinning
in our own heads
is he/she angry?
did i disappoint him/her?
did i miss something?

between Good Friday
and Easter Sunday
on silent saturday
GOD KNOWS Jesus is in the tomb
but He chooses to not do anything

for us too
GOD KNOWS...
...your career is in the tank
...your finances are in the pit
...your marriage is in a mess
...you want to get married but don't know who
...you must choose a college and a career
...illness is stalking you
...addiction is haunting your family
...you are nearing life's end

if God knows
THEN WHY...
...doesn't God act on my behalf?
...why why does He choose to be silent?
AND WHAT
am i supposed to do until then?

DO
what Jesus did
lie still
stay silent
trust God
BE

be still
and know
that I am
I am God
Psalm 46:10

Jesus knew
God would not leave him alone
in the grave
I KNOW
yet in the waiting
i may wonder and begin to wander
I KNOW
that God will never
leave me alone
with my struggles

His silence
IS NOT his absence!

His inactivity
IS NEVER apathy!

silent saturdays have purpose
they bring US
to the END
of OURSLEVES
they let us FEEL
the full force
of God's strength

were He to solve my problems
the second they appear
would i appreciate
his love,
his strength,
his perfect timing?
no
i wouldn't
i'd like to think that i would
but i know i wouldn't

for His reasons
His
He, the creator of me
me, designed in and from His image
for His perfect reasons
He intentionally, not accidentally
plans
chooses
to INSERT
a SILENT saturday
between our fridays
and our sundays

the power
and yet unknown
purpose
of the pause

in life sometimes
saturday can endure for seasons
it seems there is no resurrection in sight

Jesus' mother and dearest friends
mourned deeply on silent saturday
in the valley of the shadow
they mourned without knowing
Mary endured the trauma
of finding the body missing from the tomb
without yet knowing

but we get to live
on the other side of the resurrection
WE KNOW
the tomb was empty
WE KNOW
He defeated death, hell and the grave
WE KNOW
that we are no longer a slave to sin
WE KNOW
that resurrection power lives in us

following that setup
we sat
and listened
to the silence of saturday

and my continued journaling
through the silence
was this

sometimes i feel like i'm waiting
but i don't even know
what i'm waiting for

so i've learned the value
and the need for
margin
buffer
availability
to receive
what i don't even know
i'm waiting for

no noise
no drama
just be

the in-between
the unknown
the release
the adrenaline release

God knows

silence IS NOT absence
inactivity IS NOT apathy

limit my sensory inputs
close my eyes
pay attention
to what i hear
the visions that come to mind
the lyrics that bubble up
no agenda

be mindful
that in the silence
the playlist you've taken in
through each of your senses
has been saved
what have you
heard
tasted
read
seen
touched

in the silence of saturday
you might hear, see, sense
what is saved in
the library of your heart, mind, soul, body
that might be
experienced again
will what's in your library
when all is silent
will it fill you
or will it further drain you

at holy yoga
i learned how to truly
release
and relax
every
single
muscle group
from top to bottom
think about releasing
the tension
the tightness
in your head
your eyes
your cheekbones
your tongue
your lower jaw
those shoulders
you unconsciously shrug tight
visualize the rest
of each bone and muscle group

the power of the pause

people pay more attention
when you stop talking

parenting with love & logic
taught me
the more upset i became
to speak softer, slower, and fewer words
and to love too much to argue
it works
it deflates my emotion
and it catches others attention
i remember well
the first time i implemented
that philosophy
and my son screamed at me,
"would you just yell at me?!"

my recent first experience
with receiving prophetic prayer
was a powerful pause
a 15-minute silent saturday
where ultimately
our mutual trust in the God who knows
revealed words
and pictures
to two strangers
who broke through the silence
with deeply
relevant promptings
for me

pay attention
to the goosebumps
you get
at any time of any day
in any location
about something big
or seemingly insignificant
pay attention to them
you can't force goosebumps
so take notice
what woke them up
don't miss an opportunity
for something to be revealed
and then write it down
type it into notes on your phone
email it to yourself
during prayer at church
or sit down during a praise song
this is not a religion
this is relationship

show up
for silence
yes
an appointment
commitment
to show up
without knowing
what's planned
let it flow
take the cues
--
a wave starts somewhere
how, where, why does it start
in a random location of a body of water
with know knowledge
where or how it will go
we enjoy the sight
and the sound of it
some enjoy catching and
riding the waves
but i do not
nor need to
understand it
it just does
because
"God
is bigger
than the air i breathe
the world we'll leave
and all will say
My Glorious!"

-tvz
2019-4/21