Why did Jesus wait a whole 3 days to reveal Himself, to rise from the dead? I mean He could have risen after 1 day? or 2 days? Why 3 days?
Somehow in those 3 days, God allowed the disciples and those closest to Jesus to feel the incredible weight of their disappointment, their dashed expectations, their doubt and perhaps even anger.
Have you ever experienced this type of "3 days"?
It's similar to the delay we see in John 11 when Jesus comes on to the scene after Lazarus is already dead. He knew he was sick, but waited and seemed to delay.
Delay
What is the purpose of delay?
I'm realizing for me, delay unearths every untruth I have about God. It reveals every shakiness in my faith. It uproots every area of unbelief, of anger, of mistrust, of worry, of faithlessness, of fear, of the lie that God is out to get me.
Delay has purpose.
It could either kill you or launch you into greater depths of intimacy with Jesus than ever before.
Delay is a time of darkness. Not evil darkness, not negative darkness, but a time of stillness, where all human doing, human focus comes to a standstill.
What else can we do when we are in a time of delay? Yes, we can run from it. But if we really want the precious things in secret places, treasures in darkness, we need to submit to the darkness of delay...where we are only reliant on God. Every other distraction, thoughts of fleeing, temptation to control or even get angry is swallowed by the Great Darkness of a Good God.
The Great Darkness.
Seems so counterintuitive, but it's true.
Psalm 18 says: "He made darkness His covering, His canopy around Him"
Why would God make darkness His canopy and covering? Why not bright light? Why not bring clarity instead of blindness?
Same with those 3 days right? Why delay? Why on the road to Emmaus was Jesus not recognizable to them at first?
What is the purpose of this type of darkness?
Those 3 days were characterized by darkness, by delay, by an invisibility of God.
But God may be shrouded in darkness, but it doesn't mean He's not present.
Presence and invisibility are not mutually exclusive.
God can be present, but not fully seen. Those 3 days were so characterized by this.
I too am in delay, in darkness, in my "3 days"
And yes, it's been devastating. I've felt so alone, so lost, so unseen by God.
But I wonder if this season of delay actually isn't about me being seen by God, but actually about me seeing God. Yes, learning to see God even as He makes darkness His canopy. Perhaps this season is about me seeing God and in doing so realizing that God ALWAYS sees me.
That's probably why most of the time I want to run from this season. In this season, "me" is de-throned and God is supreme. I'm not the center of attention, it's not about my agenda or even ultimately my desires. It's about God ALONE. And that's really hard. Because humanity always bends towards itself.
Perhaps that's the real meaning of Christmas as well. Christmas is not really about us being born again in Jesus and being seen by Him, but it's about Jesus coming IN. It's about Jesus being seen, being in the center, being magnified, glorified.
So of course, we cover it with lights, color, tinsel and make it about us and not about Jesus. But the reality of Christmas is truly this:
it was a silent night.
Silent, not lots of distraction. Night, not much else is seen except the coming of the Savior of the world.
The coming of Jesus happened in darkness, in silence, in stillness. Similar to those 3 days. Jesus rose in the midst of darkness, in silence, in stillness.
The bottom line is this:
Jesus comes. Not is coming, not came, but comes. Ongoing. Present. Never ceasing.
He comes in the delay, He comes in the darkness, He comes in the silence, He comes in the stillness, He comes in the waiting.
He comes. This is hope. That He comes.
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