04/04/2026
It is Holy Saturday, and on this day Jesus lay in His tomb, but for us it is a time of waiting, of anticipation. Are we one of those who is comfortable waiting, or does it cause us to toss and turn anxiously in the night? In our relationship with God, we often find ourselves waiting for Him but how do we go about it... do we settle into a soft chair, or pace the floor? Let’s ask the Lord to give us peace and patience as we wait, because there are untold blessings in our waiting.
“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:25-26 ESV
When Ann and I were young we would travel to Northern Virginia on holidays to visit with my family, and it was a 13-hour drive from our house in Nashville to my parent’s home. We made this trip with our first baby, then two children, three, and finally four. I recall many things that happened along the way, but it seemed that on most trips Ann was busy nursing one of our crying babies for nearly the entire drive there and back. The interesting part of all this is that although I remember some wonderful highlights of the pleasant times spent with my family, I can remember almost everything about those intense 13-hour drives with our kids. I remember finding games for them to play as we attempted to keep them occupied, like watching for license plates, and seeing who could identify plates from more states than anyone else, or playing ‘I spy’ in which one of us would look for a color, or something around us as we drove through the countryside and the others would try to guess what it was. I also remember those quiet hours when everyone else was asleep, and how I would thank God for the peace and quiet.
The point I want to make here is that despite the fun I had with my family during the drive, when we arrived at my parent’s home, and the joy we felt when we returned home, our fondest memories as a nuclear family came from the journey; it came from 13 hours of squabbles, irritability, travel sickness, and babies that needed to nurse every minute of every hour. It also came from the excitement of beginning the journey, the anticipation of seeing distant family we hadn’t seen in a while, the games, the little songs, the license plates, the wonderful new things along the way, the landmarks we would use to mark our progress, and the rowdy children we told to calm down. There were also those times when, in frustration, I would threaten them... “Don’t make me stop this car!” but you know, I never did stop the car, and today as I look back I realize that those hours spent waiting to reach our destination, despite how I felt about them then, were precious indeed. These are also the stories our adult kids recall at family gatherings.
Our journeys in the Lord’s car of faith are a lot like those family trips, except now we are the children, and He, the Father, is looking for ways to teach and entertain us as we wait... or can’t wait... to get to where we are going. So, on this day, long ago, Jesus was laying in the grave, and the disciples, and those around Him, mourned and waited. Some waited patiently, some were anxious, and others were doubtful they would ever see Him again, but the one thing they all had in common was that God was teaching them each a lesson about themselves, and their faith, during the wait. I wonder, if we were able to talk to those disciples today, and asked them about that time of waiting... what their first memory would be? Would Peter remember how certain he was that Jesus was dead and gone, how forlorn He was about denying Him three times, or the excitement and anticipation of His impending resurrection? I dare say it wouldn’t be the latter, and that those days were filled with sorrow and uncertainty. It is easy for us to judge the lessons they learned as they waited because we already know the whole story, but as they now gather in heaven what do they recall of the wait? Do they say to one another, “remember how we cried, and had to console Peter?”, and do you remember the desperate prayers?
I read some wonderful words written by Pastor Andrew Murray regarding spiritual waiting… listen to them:
“God graciously uses our need and desire for help to educate us for something higher than we may have been thinking of. We were seeking gifts; He longs to give himself and to satisfy our soul with His goodness. It is for this reason that He often withholds the gifts and that the time of waiting seems so long.” - Andrew Murray
So, as we wait; and as the hours, days, months, or year’s tick by, what lessons has God been teaching us, what gifts of Himself has He been offering us? I guess the better questions mighty be to ask ourselves... “have I been receptive, or resistant, to receiving what God desires to give me? Have I been a good disciple, or a whining baby that sought only to be nursed for the entire journey?”
Rest assured my friend that the waiting will come to an end, and that the now insignificant things we have been asking for will be given, but the real treasure, and the real blessing will come in what we received while in the midst of our waiting. The stories we will eventually tell at our Father’s table will be about the joys of the journey. Although it is just a remembrance for us now, today we wait again with the disciples for the stone to be rolled back from the tomb, but inside the miracle has already occurred, and those amazing lessons have long ago been taught. So now, as we wait for the trumpet to sound and the second coming of Jesus to arrive… what are the lessons we are being taught as we wait? And how will we receive them?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the lessons that only come as I am waiting for you. I thank you for these times that I feel are so hard but are always proven to be insignificant ion comparison to the blessings I receive by waiting on them. Thank you for this journey that we are on together, and for the wonders you point out along the way. You show me yourself at every turn and reveal treasures of faith in the wayside picnic areas, and rest stops as we trek. Today I am anticipating another Easter morning, and the thrill in rising to find the stone rolled back from the tomb of Jesus. As I sleep tonight, you will be preparing a moment of unbridled joy for me, and as I wait for that moment you are busily teaching me the blessed power of trusting in your Word. Praised be Jesus, the Christ, your Son! In His tomb he fulfilled His prophesy, and in my waiting, I am receiving new life through His death and resurrection. Help me Father as I grow in my faith by waiting for you. Holy is your instruction, and Holy are your blessings; give me the courage, the faith, and the perseverance I need to wait. Holy, Holy, Holy, art thou my God, who teaches me in the midst of my longing, and who gives me heavenly treasure as I wait.
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.”
Psalms 130:5-6 ESV
Hallelujah! And Amen!
Rich Forbes