Saturday, April 3, Holy Week Day Nine

I Will Rise

Scripture Reading: Micah 7:7-11; Matthew 27:55-66

Each of us at times feels the weight and pain that Micah described as the identifying characteristic of God’s people who had again failed. “I will hear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him” (Micah 7:9a). Often we tell ourselves that we deserve what has befallen us, the guilt, consequences, struggle, and pain. This was no doubt the overwhelming sense that the disciples, and especially Peter, must have felt on that Saturday between Golgotha and Resurrection morning.

And yet, that was not the end of the story for them and must not be the final word for us either! We need not cower in defeat or wallow in the mire of our self-pity or self-loathing. Bearing the weight of God’s wrath is not the destined posture for the child of God, nor is it a place approved for us by our Lord. Micah goes on…. “He will plead my cause and execute justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness” (Micah 7:9b).

Micah was clear, “We must watch and wait expectantly for the Lord, the God of our salvation” (Micah 7:7). He will show up and lead us into the light where we see not our failure, but His righteousness. Then our enemy, “the accuser of the brethren” will be put to shame (Micah 7:10). “Though I fall, I will rise” (Micah 7:8) must be the cry of our hearts. Not only will His righteousness cover our guilt but our walls may be rebuilt and our boundaries extended (Micah 7:11).

We, like those first followers of Jesus, may have dwelt in the darkness of our own weakness or failure, but the Lord is a light for us and longs to make Himself known (7:8). Just as the light would shine for Peter and his fellow disciples the next morning, so His light will emerge and our darkness will soon be dispelled as well. “Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

“Watch expectantly….wait for the God of your salvation” (Micah 7:7).

The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead will cause you to rise and enable you to stand in the freedom of His righteousness.

Prayer: Father, may I come to know, even in the dark hour of my weakness, frailty, pain, and failure, that the darkness that I now feel is not the definitive word, but instead my future hope is marked out by the light of His victorious resurrection.