Day 40, Lent 2024: Submission and waiting as strength

Today is a day of silence. On this final day of Lent, we remember the submission of Jesus. He has been killed in the most terrible way. His disciples have experienced a great blow - their leader has been bloodied, crucified, and buried. He has submitted to the plan of God, which seems unthinkable and cruel.

This Sabbath is a quiet and waiting day when any work of God is hidden. The descent of Jesus into Hades to lead the captives into freedom? Unseen. The coming resurrection? Not imaginable. So the disciples (like we must do sometimes in the "between") wait. God is at work but they do not see it.

God promises strength to his people. But that strength is not power to do what we want, the way we want it. The strength of following Jesus is submission. 

It is the confidence that God has plans and purposes for me. He makes the way. Life is not my fight to win or my striving to accomplish my goals. The glorious power of Easter is coming, though I may not know it.

Knowing that allows me to sit in his presence in the morning: "What is your plan for me today?" and in the evening, to ask: "How were your purposes fulfilled?"

Challenge: What areas of my life am I learning to submit to God? What else must I lay down or put aside today?


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