Silent Saturday: Finding Hope in the Waiting Between the Pain & the Promise

We talk about Good Friday. We celebrate Resurrection Sunday. But we often forget there was a Silent Saturday. The day things went dark. A moment in time when hope seemed to be gone.

A lot of people I know are in a Silent Saturday right now. Maybe that’s you. The pain has come. Hope is fleeting. You may be wondering where God is—or what He’s doing, if He’s in it at all.

So I wanted to write to that person today who may feel like their Silent Saturday has come. Here are some truths I want you to believe in the midst of the hard today:

1. The Silence Doesn’t Negate His Presence

Has it ever occurred to you that God could’ve raised Jesus the very next day? When Saturday rolled around, He could’ve already been at work resurrecting Him, and maybe the weight of His death wouldn’t have felt so heavy. The darkness wouldn’t have lingered as long.

But God knew what the best plan was.

The three days were a fulfillment of prophecy. It established the permanence of Jesus’ death. God knew the end from the beginning. And through Christ, over 300 prophecies were fulfilled.

The same God who knew every detail of that story knows every detail of yours. And no matter where you’re at in your Silent Saturday, He sits with you in it.

Even when you can’t hear Him. Even when you can’t feel Him.

He is not absent. The silence isn’t evidence of His distance—it draws you nearer to His presence.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” —Deuteronomy 31:6

2. He Cares More About Our Character Than Our Comfort

God knows the best way to develop us into who He wants us to be sometimes involves suffering. Just look at His Son. All the pain He endured was necessary for the fullness of salvation to be established.

And I get it—the last thing you want to hear in the midst of pain is that it’s developing or growing you. Who cares when it hurts so bad?!

I’ll tell you who: God does.

He cares immensely for His kids. And every parent knows that sometimes the best thing you can do for your child is to let them try. To let them fall. To let them endure something hard—because on the other side is wisdom. Grit. Perseverance. Faith.

You may be in your Silent Saturday, but the growth and character being developed in you certainly isn’t stagnant. It’s abounding more than ever.

So instead of spending more time asking God what He’s doing in your circumstance, ask Him to show you what He’s doing in you.

He’s looking at your heart, friend. And sometimes the transformation He wants to bring takes some spiritual surgery. It may be painful. And the recovery may take some time. But that heart of yours is more precious to Him than you could ever imagine.

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” —Romans 5:3–4

3. His Plans Are Good

The other day, I realized something beautiful: Jesus’s tomb was in a garden.

Just like Adam and Eve were in a garden when sin entered the world. And where did Jesus cry out to His Father before His death? The Garden of Gethsemane.

It was in a garden where sin entered the world—and in a garden where redemption began to unfold. From brokenness to blessing, God redeemed what was lost.

Jesus turned to God in a garden. Adam and Eve turned away from Him in one. What a redemptive full-circle moment for all of mankind.

God is in the finest of details. And He truly does work all things out for good.

Time and time again, I’ve watched people walk through incredibly painful things—and while in the middle of it, it felt impossible to see how anything good could come of it. But over time, I’ve seen God’s hand bring beauty, healing, and redemption.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." —Romans 8:28

If it’s not good yet, I truly believe God’s not done.

So if you're in your Silent Saturday, I want you to hear this: You are not forgotten. You are not forsaken.

Sunday is coming.