THE SEASON OF ABIDING IN THE TOMB

Jesus has all of life thoroughly scoped out.  He's got it/us covered.  Nothing has gotten by him.  Jesus knows every hairline move and thought about every nano-detail of created life.  One of his finest moments was when he took that three-day seminar in the tomb.  Even that riddle has been uprooted and solved.

Our job is to believe him...John 6:29.  Our work is to believe that he has already done the work.

But let's look at that season when he was in the tomb.  While he was preparing for the Sunday morning blast-out, his disciples scattered to and fro in the dumps.  They had put all of their eggs into one basket and some bullies stole the basket.

We not only know the rest of the story, we celebrate it.  It is the heartbeat of the kingdom to carry resurrection assurance into each day and every season.

We have tomb seasons.  These are the many times we can't control matters that are happening.  These times leave us empty of plan and at a loss as to our ineffective manipulation.  We find ourselves repeatedly in the time-out of the grave stuck with nothing to do but wait on God's shout.

To be frank, we like much of the church stuff; but we scramble to avoid or get out of the season of abiding in the tomb.  I am in one of those.

You may have seen my recent post of eye surgery gone blurry.  It is healing well as I sit in another season of the tomb.  I learned this week that more is coming.  My shoulder pain requires surgery through my neck by scooting my esophagus and vocal chords over while the doctors attempt to remove a couple of discs.

I have shed tears in disappointment.  It is workshop time.  But I will not live in discouragement for this is simply a season of abiding in the tomb waiting upon God to do that stuff He does that is better than anything men's greatest minds can orchestrate.

In the center of my disappointment I share this only to join in yours.  We don't need to throw one pity-party.  We will find this a time to grow in confidence in what God can do.  We know the other the side the grave story...maybe too well.

Have we grown indifferent by our rote knowledge of the empty tomb?  Has our faith succumbed to repeated slogans, verses, mottoes, and cheers that we have let go of the most fascinating truth in all of history...the grave is empty?

Ours is not to be surprised something is going other than we had planned.  Ours is to be wide-eyed as we grow younger in excitement over the talent of our God. Everyone takes their turn at grave-presence.  And yes, these days can pile up and seem to overwhelm.  But the Truth is stable, even if our emotions are not.

There is nothing we may encounter that would tempt us to think this is the worst but what God has already set the clock a-ticking as one of His repeated best; the breaking open the tomb that implied it would confine and restrict from here on out.  NOT!!

The season of abiding in the tomb is for real people with real problems.  We are not to surrender that troubles and injuries and disappointments would arrest us and throw us in the clinker of hopelessness.  Nope!  We are to fix our eyes on Jesus and thank him for spending a few days in our tombs before he burst forth from his.

Misery is for doubters.  Joy is for believers.  Believers do not deny there was a tomb. We simply believe tombs may try to contain; but they just can't hold up under the pressure the Holy Spirit places in His call to Let my people go!