When God Is Silent: Holding On in the In-Between

There’s this day in the Easter story that’s often passed over, Silent Saturday.

It’s the day after the cross and before the resurrection. The day when Jesus lay still in the tomb. The day Heaven seemed quiet. The day hope felt like it had died.

I’ve been thinking about this day a lot this week.

Because I know what it feels like to live in a Silent Saturday season. Maybe you do too.

It’s the space after the heartbreak but before the healing.

After the prayer but before the answer.

After the loss but before anything starts to make sense again.

It’s when you’ve cried all your tears, and the world just…keeps turning. People move on, and you’re still sitting in the silence, waiting for God to say something or to do something.

And you wonder: God, where are You?

I imagine the disciples felt that. They had watched the One they loved be taken, tried, and crucified. Everything they hoped for died on that cross. And now…it was Saturday. Nothing was happening. No miracles. No voices from Heaven. Just silence.

But here’s what brings us comfort:

Just because God was silent, didn’t mean He wasn’t working.

While the world was still, Jesus was moving in unseen places. Scripture tells us He descended into darkness and declared victory over sin and death. He was making a way. Even in the quiet, He was still faithful.

I think that’s the point of Silent Saturday; not to understand, but to trust.

To believe that God is still good, even when we don’t hear Him.

To hold on, even when we’re tired of waiting.

To know that the silence isn’t the end of the story, it’s the middle.

Friend, if you’re in a Silent Saturday moment right now, I want to say this to you gently:

Don’t give up.

Don’t walk away.

The silence doesn’t mean you’re forgotten.

God is still writing your story. The stone will be rolled away. But for now, take heart. Wait with hope. Let the silence draw you closer to the One who never leaves, even when He seems quiet.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

Lamentations 3:25–26