Finished Things Become Usable ThingsSample

The Messy Middle

When Jesus gave up his spirit, the light of the world literally went out.

Imagine that next day for the disciples and all those closest to Jesus, to wake up after the exhaustion of the trials, the confusion of the Last Supper, and the horror of the crucifixion. I imagine they were exhausted and stricken with grief, but not just that. Everything they thought would be a certain way…it just wasn’t. Everything they imagined-everything they hoped is gone.

Sometimes we find ourselves stuck on that Saturday in between the crucifixion and the resurrection. Everything we thought about would be a certain way….just isn’t. There is a lot to process in the messy middle, so much to mine out of the darkness. You’re used to what you can see, hear, feel, and touch – used to using all of our senses to make decisions. But when the lights go out, all the senses we are accustomed to are no longer useful. We must rely on something else.

When you can’t see what is going to happen, you have to trust. This is what Saturday feels like.

Darkness is the partial or total absence of light. It conceals things and it prevents us from seeing. When the clarity we so desperately want becomes hidden from us, we become trapped in a mindset that repeats on a constant loop: Get me out of here.

What do we do in those seasons? How do we move through the dark, even with the inability to see what is ahead?

This is an invitation to consider the difficulty, to embrace the moment. To feel what is happening without trying to minimize or pretend that this messy middle isn’t overwhelming or threatening everything we hold dear. The promise that we rest on is this: something is coming that is not fully revealed. You’re about to see something you cannot yet see, and this is the human condition.

Feel the tension of the messy middle when all you have is fledgling hope. Feel the hope of His promise that nothing can separate you from the power of His love.