Easter Saturday

Ecclesiastes 3:4 (NIV)

‘A time to weep...a time to mourn.’

We have just gone through the Easter weekend, and for most of us, that has meant family celebrations, hot cross buns, egg hunts, and way too much chocolate! But nestled in the Easter weekend is a day that is seldom discussed, Easter Saturday.

Easter Saturday rarely gets the attention it deserves, as the focus is on Friday, the day Jesus died, and Sunday, the day he rose from the dead, but this day is also very important. 

Christ had just been crucified, and his followers were in disarray. His friends and family were broken, traumatised and alone, engulfed in heart-breaking grief. Christ had been placed in a tomb, and we can only imagine the sobbing and wailing from those that loved him on the other side of that stone. Mary (Jesus's mother), Peter, John, Mary Magdalene, Andrew, James and many others trying to console one another, recounting their stories of beloved Jesus. This was a sacred time. A holy time. A time to grieve. A time to mourn. A time to sit with their pain and let their souls ache. 

I am sure many of us can resonate with their grief. So many of us have lost people we love and cherish during our lives, and we must take time to grieve so we can healthily move through the valley. When we grieve, it allows our brain to process the pain, and it gives our bodies the chance to accept and come to terms with the loss. One can't rush this journey; it's a steady walk and, sadly, a lonely one. But as we permit ourselves to travel at our own speed, we allow our hearts to recover, and those deep valleys that have been dug out of our souls can then be filled with a godly joy and a return of hope. 

Prayer – Father, I ask you to help me come to terms with the losses I have experienced. Help me grieve healthily and bring me to a new place of hope in you.