What is done in the waiting time

Rev Enoch Thompson | APRIL 8, 2023 | Matthew 27:57-66

KEY VERSE:

⁶⁵"Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." ⁶⁶So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. Matt 27:65-66 (NIV)

MESSAGE:

For most people most of the time, we are awaiting the fulfilment of a promise, or the realization of a dream, a vision, or the maturing of some investment. The initial point of that hope is one thing, and the realization of the expectation is another joy, but the waiting-time, the period in-between is very often an agony, a challenge, and that is where many people fail.

The religious and political leaders had heard the claims by the Lord Jesus Christ that He would be killed, and that on the third day, He would rise to life. They did not believe Him, and they called Him a deceiver. They logically feared that if anything in the semblance of a resurrection happened, it would strengthen the followership of the Lord and make them lose their grip on the minds of the ordinary people. They, therefore, sought legal authority to impose a military guard at the tomb. The seal of Rome and a guard from the Roman army were posted at the tomb, to ensure that the miraculous did not happen.

How many things have been done by the Devil to make sure that our resurrection with our Master, the new life He offers, and the beauty for ashes, do not become a reality. I invite you to a deep reflection on the things that fight against us and try to keep us down. We must not deny the fact that there are people, situations, background realities, and current circumstances that all work together against our fullest realization. The Lord Jesus had more than enough factors to keep Him in the grave; the limiting space within the tomb, the large stone at the entrance of the tomb, physical weakness from the beating, the psychological pain of the insults before and during the crucifixion, the loss of blood and strength through the journey to Calvary and the crucifixion, the seal of the emperor and the guards from Pilate, all of these were to make the waiting-time for the Lord the stopping-time.

But thanks be to God that for the Lord Jesus, His waiting-time remained a waiting-time. All that was done to keep Him down did not succeed. What is done against us in our Saturday in the grave should not stop us from our Sunday morning outburst.

FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE:

Are you facing a waiting-time that is being turned into a stopping-time by forces opposed to you? Cry out to the One who experienced a Saturday in the grave, with opposition forces working around Him to keep Him down. If the risen Jesus lives inside of you, no force of Hell can stop you from becoming all that God has called you to be. Stay strong in your waiting-time. Sunday is coming!

PRAYER:

Precious Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that you showed me to learn to wait for the Father’s allotted times. May I learn to trust you in my waiting-times. Grant me the grace to stay the course and not run ahead of you. For your dear Name’s sake, Amen.

THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING.

SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!