“Living in the in between.”  I can’t claim originality for that title.  I heard a preacher at a conference in Baton Rouge preach on it many, many years ago. “Living in the in between”  best summarizes Saturday in the Easter story.

Bob Goff, my favorite optimist, tweeted yesterday regarding Friday in the Easter narrative. “Darkness fell, His friends scattered, hope seemed lost – But heaven just started counting to three.”  It doesn’t get any worse than Friday in the chronology of the Easter narrative.  On Friday there was nothing but torture, abandonment, confusion, defeat, death, and total darkness.  Friday was the day the lights went out in Jerusalem and the whole world.  Matthew 27:45 (MSG)  From noon to three, the whole earth was dark.

For three hours everyone on the planet believed it was the end of the world.  You can’t get anymore bleak and hopeless than that.  Everyone in every civilization just knew that life was over… just knew there would never be laughter again… just knew there would never be music again… just knew there would never be festivals and parties again… just knew there would never be sunshine again.  It was clear to everyone in that blackness that the end was no longer near but here.  Do you relate?  Of course you do.  Some of you relate only too well because you are in the darkness of a tragedy and the blackness of chaos right now.  Justice has failed to serve you and none of the prayers you prayed God answered.  None of the dreams you had for yourself, your family, your finances or your health seem possible right now.

And then there’s Saturday for Christ disciples and sympathizers.  If you had said to them, “you’re living in between defeat and victory,” they would have all said, “Are you crazy?  We’re not in between, there’s only defeat, there’s only despair.  We just invested all of our hopes and dreams into a fantasy that’s become a nightmare.  They crucified the best man we ever knew and they’re probably coming after us next.”

You would not have been able to cheer up the devastated followers of Christ, but in their despair they were ignoring the prophetic scripture and besides that how life, death, and resurrection had been the pattern of everything God had anything to do with since Genesis 1.  The earth became a black hole before God said, “Let there be light.” Sarah was promised a child and grew old and barren.  Joseph dreamed of supremacy over his brothers and was sold into slavery.  The nation of Israel was promised a new land and spent forty years wandering in the desert.  Do you want me to go on for an hour?  Of course not.  EVERY GREAT DIVINE ADVANCEMENT IN HUMAN HISTORY HAD A GREAT “IN BETWEEN” PROMISE AND FULFILLMENT!

So settle into your metaphorical Saturday and just put one foot in front of the other.  You don’t have to be brilliant when living “in the in between,” just don’t be self destructive.  You don’t have to be shouting “hallelujah” just don’t be saying, “I quit!” “Weeping may remain for a night but rejoicing comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5   People who can’t manage the space between tragedy and triumph can do a lot of damage.  The dark middle is a very serious and dangerous place: addictions, suicide, self mutilation, divorce, anarchy, even murder happen there.  If you learn to trust God while “living in the in between,” you will be unstoppable throughout your life.  So as hard as this is going to be, take a deep breath, quiet your mind and live as serenely as possible in the great “in between.”