He Was Saving the Church

I stood there in line at the store watching the minutes tick by. I was already late for an appointment, and it appeared that the person ahead of me was trying deliberately to slow things down (at least to me in that state of severe impatience, it did!). Then I remembered that awe-full passage in the book of Lamentations: "It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD."

Yes, it is good, even if we do not like it. But if we do more than just dislike it, if we actually cooperate with the grace of God which is active in it, then it will truly be good for us. Every year on Holy Saturday, I try to imagine that horrible wait that the Apostles endured on the first Holy Saturday -- the day between the crucifixion and the resurrection when they did not yet remember that "He must rise from the dead".

What were they actually doing? They were waiting. Because, "It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD." Interestingly, the book of Lamentations is not talking about waiting during a pleasant sunset, or waiting for dinner to be ready, it is telling us about waiting during times of severe sadness and misery. That is the exact type of waiting that the Apostles had to go through. Just try to imagine what St. Peter was thinking; he had denied Christ three times and was likely wondering if he would ever be able to reconcile with Him.

So, St. Peter waited. He waited while Christ was in the grave. But Christ was not simply doing nothing; He was saving the Church. Our Lord was proclaiming victory to the souls in Hades. He was doing things that we are unaware of. That is the value of our waiting; we are not just "doing nothing" we are learning patience in the work of the Lord. He does not always (actually, it is rarely!) do things according to our time schedule. You cannot put God down in your appointments; He works at the speed He wants, when He wants and how He wants.

Try your hardest not to fill this day with busy stuff. See, if at all possible, whether you can spend at least a small bit of time just waiting. By which I mean, not really getting anything important done. And try to put yourself into the shoes of those first disciples. Waiting can teach us things. Waiting means that we end up thinking about God and His providence in our lives. Waiting is something that God can use for our good. This is true, because, "It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD."