The Day in Between

   This day in history was a day of grief, fear, and confusion. A day of tragedy and loss.
   Jesus was dead--executed like a common criminal. After a life of service, love, and ministry, He was arrested, beaten, and crucified--all without just cause. The perfect Life that had brought light and hope back into a darkened, hopeless world had been brutally snuffed out.
   His followers now hid in terror and sorrow. Their leader was gone, despite all His promises and all His miracles. Despite all the hope He brought them about the future. Despite their belief in Who He was. He was gone, His work on earth done, finished. The shock of the night before had worn off and they grappled with the crippling emotional aftermath.
    All was lost.
    Or was it?
   Little did they know the battle Jesus was waging and winning just beyond their physical line of sight. Little did they know the victory that was just beyond the next sunrise. They were painfully unaware of the spiritual warfare happening at that very moment--and that Jesus had just won the ultimate battle against sin. They couldn't see the keys to death, hell, and the grave that He had snatched away from Satan so that He could give the keys of Heaven to His children.   Little did they know the extreme joy, relief, and triumph they would experience the very next day.
   Maybe this is where you are. Stuck in a day between great tragedy and great triumph. Maybe you've recently experience a devastating blow: a grim diagnosis, end of a relationship, a job loss, family struggles, spiritual attacks, etc. Maybe you're asking the same questions Jesus' followers must have asked on that day after His death. "Why, Lord?" "I don't understand." "How could You let this happen?" "What am I supposed to do now?"
   This is a hard place to be in. Trying to hold on to the fragile threads of your faith when everything else is unraveling to pieces around you. When you can't see any way out. When you've lost all sight of light and hope. When everything seems bleak and dark. We've all been there.
   But friend, we won't stay in that day in between. I don't know what your third day looks like, but God is there. There is light and there is hope and there is promise. This is not the last day. There is another morning dawning. And victory is coming. Just like on that Easter morning when Jesus stepped out of the grave.
   Just hold on a little longer and rest

   In His Grip,
   Crystal

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Psalm 30:5b