The Silent Saturday

Did you know the day between Good Friday and Easter is often called Silent Saturday?

There is so much to learn in the silence of Saturday. It is both sacred and scary.

Have you ever thought about the day after you get bad news, when you are thrown into the abyss of a crisis and struggling with a multitude of questions?

Why God? What now? Where do I go from here? When will this pain go away? That quagmire of questions is deep, and it is brutally painful.

As I sit here, writing my column on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter, I remember the moments when something happened that would forever change my life. I wanted God to intervene and do something, but He was silent.

I can remember those moments with great detail.

Lying on the table in Dr. Beaver’s examination room, he anxiously listened for the heartbeat of my baby. His brow furrowed as the stethoscope moved from side to side on my belly. I knew. There was no heartbeat. It was 1980.

Sitting on my mauve/blue/cream floral sofa, I opened our cellphone bill, which showed the details of the calls made in March. They were not my calls. It was 1999.

My cellphone rings, and its light tells me it is 4:00 a.m. Only bad news comes in the middle of the night. Caller ID tells me who is calling. Before I answer, my heart is racing, and tears well up in my eyes. I knew I would no longer be getting calls from my mother. It was December 17, 2020.

There have been other, what I call Silent Saturdays, when I didn’t know how to handle what was happening in my life.

Please, God, do something to make this better. Help me wake up from this nightmare. Why, God?

Silence.

I can’t imagine how Mary Magdalene and the other Mary must have felt on the day after Jesus was crucified and buried in the tomb. Their devotion kept them by the tomb. They had to be in shock, weeping and wondering … What now?

They were faithful in the silence.

As I read the scriptures this week, I was reminded how Jesus had cast seven demons out of Mary Magdalene, which changed her life forever. She vowed to remain devoted to him no matter what.

I wrote in my journal, “Faithful in the silence.”

I have the benefit of knowing Easter is coming. Jesus came out of that grave. He arose! As the Bill Gaither song says, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.”

It is in the silent moments that my Faith deepens. I trust God to bring me through these times because of how I was raised and because I have a proven history with God. There is hope in the silence. God may be silent, but it doesn’t mean He is not working.

I am reminded of the scripture, “So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord.” Hebrews 10:35 NLT

Having a history with God that has helped me get through the worst of the “What now?” moments allows me to be still and know He is God, and will walk with me in the silence.

There will be more Silent Saturdays. They won’t be listed on a calendar. They will be written about in my journals and perhaps in other columns.

Because I know what happens on Easter Sunday, I can face whatever life brings. Knowing the cross tells of the sacrifice of Jesus, knowing the tomb is empty, and knowing that He arose and lives today, I can face tomorrow.

Yes, the Silent Saturday is scary and sacred but Sunday’s coming.

Janet Hart Leonard can be contacted at janethartleonard@gmail.com or followed on Facebook or Instagram (@janethartleonard). Visit janethartleonard.com.