Saturday Night Remembered

Much is made of Friday and Jesus’ crucifixion. Rightly so. Celebration is made on Sunday, great rejoicing that Jesus is alive. Again, this is as it should be. But over time, Saturday night has been lost.

I had a Saturday night in 2007. A hopeless moment while sitting in my floor. It seemed dark, and I felt so empty. I couldn’t even remember Sunday morning because of the blackness of Saturday. Yet God was there. He never left my side. He intended me to have Sunday.

The thing about Sunday, though, is it takes time to arrive. You have to experience Friday and last through Saturday to get there.

Think about the disciples. Jesus had warned them about Saturday.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.”(John 14:27-29)

More than once, He spoke about His death and how dark it would be for them, but He balanced His words with faith. He said, “When Saturday night comes, remember Sunday.”

Now, I know the Jewish Sabbath is not the same as what we celebrate today, so don’t write me. God spoke these words to me, “SATURDAY NIGHT REMEMBERED,” and the more I thought on them, the more I knew what He wanted to say. In fact, He made it very clear with one statement.

“I am Lord of more than the Sabbath.”

He is Lord every day of the week, including Fridays when our lives fall apart and Saturdays when it looks so dark. Lord of the breakthrough NOT Lord of the destruction. Jesus came to save what was lost. (Mt 18:11) He saw this Saturday coming on the horizon of your life and has been preparing you to last through it and, even greater, to overcome it.

I couldn’t see the year 2021 on Saturday Night in 2007. I couldn’t even fathom it. Fear had contorted my thinking and blinded my eyes. Like an early morning fog, which creeps in overnight, here in Florida, all I could see around me were indefinite shapes. I didn’t know how to stop reacting to fear or how to respond in faith. I wasn’t even strong enough to fully comprehend that thought if I’d even had it.

Saturday nights always come. They are part of the victory process. You cannot celebrate THE WIN unless you’ve tasted THE DEFEAT. It is what you have survived that makes your testimony.

I have said many times that if God had healed me instantly like I wanted then I wouldn’t be as strong spiritually as I am today. That is not a conceited statement but a truthful one. I had to push through Saturday to enjoy Sunday. I had to trust the sun would rise and burn away the fog, although I couldn’t picture it.

Sunday always comes. That’s the best part.

Maybe you are standing square in a Saturday. Like the disciples, who’d had everything they relied on taken away and the man they’d trusted as the Son of God tragically, horrifically killed, you’re groping in the darkness with tears in your eyes. All you can hear is the laughter of the enemy echoing in your head.

I’m here to tell you, though it might be Saturday, tomorrow is Sunday, and God has never NOT been in complete control. What the enemy has meant for evil, He will turn to your good in ways that will completely blow your mind. It’s no matter you can’t see it right now. God knows that and He isn’t too big and powerful to sit right there at your side.

On a Saturday night amidst the scattered pieces of your life.

Even more importantly, He has the power to put them back together. They won’t resemble what you’ve lost. There is no walking backward by faith. What they will resemble though is incredible. Sunday. And sunrise and sunshine and bird song and flowers and beauty beyond your imagination.

Trust me. I know this personally.

Trust God. He’s got you in His palm and He’ll lead you there, one step, one breath, one minute at a time. Because you can’t stop Sunday. The devil tried that with Jesus and failed.

Image by Amber Avalona from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.feelgoodromance.com
www.suzannedwilliams.com