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FIRST-PERSON: Waiting in your ‘Saturdays’


GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP) — Have we become a generation that gives up too easily?

I was talking with a friend about dreams and desires. About how we have yet to see them come to pass. The waiting, the frustration, the failure. We voiced our doubts, we cried over our failures, and we opened up about the temptation to give up entirely.

My friend likened our waiting to the Saturday after Jesus was put to death. Dead on Friday; alive on Sunday. But Saturday? Saturday was a big fat pile of waiting.

On a larger scale, this isn’t far off, considering that we are awaiting Christ’s return, for Him to usher in the newness of all things. No more tears, no death, no mourning, no crying or pain (Revelation 21:4, Romans 8:19-25), only good.

And in similar form we wait for the good that could come tomorrow in the smallness of our lives. The resurrection and fulfillment of our hopes, our dreams and our longings. We believe God is good, that He does the impossible (Luke 1:37, Matthew 19:26), so we pray God’s will and Word over the dreams He has given us. Yet we wait in what seems like an eternal Saturday for the good the Lord has promised.

Although Christ foretold His resurrection, first-century Christ followers found themselves in the midst of human uncertainty. They mourned the death of their Savior, in their humanity not knowing what tomorrow would, or wouldn’t, bring. Did they have doubts? Did they feel hopeless? Did they choose to believe? Did people call them crazy?

Noah built a boat on his Saturday, waiting and trusting for the rain to come. Job saw Saturday as an opportunity to remain steadfast in his faith, waiting and trusting his earthly circumstances to God. Hannah cried out to the Lord on Saturday, waiting and trusting for the desire of her heart to find fulfillment. While their experience seems to far exceed my comparatively measly circumstances, I’m with them. Saturdays are hard, and many times, there is work in the wait.

Anyone with God-given wants or dreams can surely relate, having walked a similar timeline. First, Friday’s death. We put to death the things that our flesh wants, but our faith requires wait. We put to death our very selves, telling Jesus to have His way, not our own. We entrust our hearts to God, and though He is ever loving and ever faithful to us this side of fulfillment, it feels like death. Death of our control and our firm grasp on the circumstance in our lives.

But here’s what is beautiful about Saturdays, they refine us. Our desperation becomes His glory. Let’s not miss the beauty of Saturday because we’re paralyzed by Friday. And let’s remember it even when we see the joy of Sunday. Saturdays are an opportunity for hope and belief to be cultivated.

The resurrection gives us hope for Sunday. Sunday WILL come. Jesus rose from the grave and that is our basis for hope in what we can’t see, in what we wait for. When our hope is in Him, rather than the reality of what is before us, we have every reason to hope in the goodness He has for us.

So why are we frustrated in the wait? Is it because Saturday takes much longer than we plan or prefer? We wait for days, months, years, and too often we give up. We reconcile the reality of what we see with our eyes to the seeming deadness of God-given dreams. Our world is engulfed in instant gratification, making things happen, achievement and success. But God says to wait on Him, to bank on His ability, to pursue Him and trust Him (Lamentations 3:25). He is not slow to fulfill His promises (2 Peter 3:8-9). The moment we give up is the moment we truly miss out. We miss out on seeing the miracle; we miss out on seeing what only God can do.

My friend and I ended our conversation with a prayer. A prayer that God would allow this generation to see dreams fulfilled, to see people who are broken and bound set free. That He would burden us for His desires to the point that it is impossible to let go. That our faith would be ignited to wait and believe.

What has God told you (Jeremiah 33:3)? What is the Spirit leading you to wait and believe God for, trusting in the same power that raised Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20)? Stay in it, believer. Saturdays are hard. Let’s ask for help to be faithful in the wait, in what God has put in front of you today, believing Him for tomorrow.

    About the Author

  • Erica Wright

    Erica Wright serves on staff at 121 Community Church in Grapevine, Texas, and blogs at RestingInPursuit.com. She holds a master of arts degree in Christian education with a concentration in women’s ministry from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Reprinted from Southwestern’s Biblical Woman website, www.biblicalwoman.com.

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