Today’s reading includes Joshua 16:1-18:28, Luke 19:1-27, Psalm 87:1-7, Proverbs 13:11.
I haven’t posted for three days. It’s not that I didn’t want to, nor was it that I couldn’t find the time. It was a strange feeling I had in my heart. After Good Friday, I realized that there was silence. God’s followers did not hear a thing. All was silent—as silent as the grave. And I felt that I needed to be silent, too.
So many analogies come to mind.
It is darkest just before the dawn.
Or even more applicable, in the middle of the tornado tunnel there is peace. It is the outer edges that are so dramatic. But in the middle, there is silence. My thoughts liken that to the Day of Silence in between the cross and the resurrection. There was the great destruction to the body of Christ, who bore our sin and shame. Then, there was the great destruction of the entity of sin and death, for those who trust in Christ. But in the middle, there was silence. And I felt that for a few days, I was to be silent, too.
Often, we feel the silence of God. Especially after storms of life have wreaked havoc on our hearts and emotions. We think He has forgotten us. Or worse, we think He is purposefully ignoring us. But that is not the case. He is continually working on our behalf, even in the silence. The silence of the grave gave way to the greatest event in history—the resurrection of our Savior. He is altogether trustworthy, even on the silent days, even if we don’t see Him or feel Him. For that is what faith is, anyway.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1
In today’s passage, we read of the process of dividing the Promise land between the tribes of Israel. We will discuss that more tomorrow, but today a simple verse caught my eye.
Then Joshua asked them, “How long are you going to wait before taking possession of the remaining land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given to you?
Joshua 18:3
God has given us all we need for an abundant life—all we need for a life of strength and holiness and goodness. How long are we going to wait to take possession of what is already ours? The great Day of Silence is over. The resurrection occurred. Jesus rolled away the stone and walked away from the cave of death, so that we could, too. But we must take possession of what He has done for us. We must claim it as ours. How long are we going to wait?
