by Pastor Todd Witmer

 

How quickly do you want an answer to your prayer? Most of us would reply, “immediately”. The events of this season remind us that often God sends His answer in a three-day pattern.

 

Devotional writer Dave Adamson explains, “I was thinking about what the Saturday after Jesus died was like. History says Jesus died on Friday and rose on Sunday, which means that Saturday in between is the only day in 2,000+ years when no one on earth believed Jesus was alive. But that dark day was the middle part of a three-day story that recurs throughout Scripture.”

 

We hear a call to Abraham in Genesis 22 to offer his only son Isaac in sacrifice to the LORD. The trip to Mt. Moriah took three days. It wasn’t until day three that the Lord provided a ram for the sacrifice.

 

Queen Esther is convinced she must speak to the king on behalf of her people, the Jews (Esther 4). She asks the Jews to pray and fast three days while she prays and plans to risk her life. On day three, the king grants her a hearing and the treacherous plot of Jewish extermination is exposed.

 

What requests are on your heart this season (concerns for your children or grandchildren, health issues, financial struggles, etc.?) Do you find yourself in the middle of your own three day story? You pour out your heart to the Lord, believing He hears, and you wait. Saturday between crucifixion and resurrection can be a very long day. Remember that God does not finish a story on day two. If the Savior lived out a three day story, you can expect the same. Jesus trusted His Father for the resurrection answer on day three. Will you join me in trusting our Savior for the answer we need on our day three?

 

From that time on, Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. (Matthew 16:21)