From Pain to Promise: Navigating Life's Saturdays

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
1. **Luke 23:50-54 (NIV)**
> "Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin."

2. **Hebrews 6:15 (NIV)**
> "And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised."

3. **James 1:2-4 (NIV)**
> "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

#### Observation Questions
1. What actions did Joseph of Arimathea take after the crucifixion of Jesus? (Luke 23:50-54)
2. How does the sermon describe the significance of "Saturday" in the context of the crucifixion and resurrection? [08:55]
3. According to Hebrews 6:15, what was the result of Abraham's patience?
4. What does James 1:2-4 say about the purpose of trials and the development of perseverance?

#### Interpretation Questions
1. How does Joseph of Arimathea's act of placing Jesus' body in the tomb symbolize the transition from pain to promise? [08:02]
2. What does the "Saturday" period represent in our personal lives, and why is it crucial for spiritual growth? [09:41]
3. How can the story of Abraham and Sarah's impatience serve as a warning for us today? [20:55]
4. What role does consistent engagement in prayer and studying the Word of God play in navigating the "Saturday" periods of our lives? [16:41]

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you experienced a "Friday" of pain and disappointment. How did you handle the "Saturday" of waiting and uncertainty? [09:41]
2. Are there areas in your life where you are tempted to act out of impatience, similar to Abraham and Sarah? How can you practice waiting patiently for God's timing? [20:55]
3. How can you increase your engagement in prayer and studying the Word of God to activate the power within you during difficult times? [16:41]
4. Think of a current struggle you are facing. How can you shift your focus from the pain of "Friday" to the promise of "Sunday"? [12:21]
5. Have you ever settled for "crumbs" instead of waiting for God's best? What steps can you take to ensure you hold out for the "whole loaf" in the future? [26:30]
6. How can you develop the character, strength, and perseverance needed to carry the weight of God's blessings when they manifest? [22:42]
7. Identify one specific way you can support someone else who is in their "Saturday" period. How can you encourage them to remain hopeful and patient? [18:19]

Day 1: Endurance Transforms Pain into Promise
Enduring hardship is an intrinsic part of the journey from pain to promise. It is in these moments of suffering and loss that faith is both tested and strengthened. As one perseveres through the trials of life, character is built, and the foundation for future fulfillment is laid. This process is essential for spiritual growth and the manifestation of divine promises. [10:16]

James 1:2-4 - "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
Reflection: How can your current hardships be viewed as opportunities to strengthen your faith and build perseverance?

Day 2: Embracing the Quiet of Transition
The "Saturday" of life, the time between pain and promise, is a critical period of transition. It is a time to embrace the quiet, to reflect, and to prepare for what is to come. This period of waiting, though often uncomfortable, is where character, strength, and ingenuity are developed. It is a time to trust in the process and prepare for the fulfillment of what is being hoped for. [13:45]

Lamentations 3:25-26 - "The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."
Reflection: In what ways can you actively seek growth and maintain hope during your periods of waiting?

Day 3: Spiritual Discipline Activates Divine Power
Engaging consistently in prayer and studying the Word of God activates the power within us and provides divine guidance. This spiritual discipline is not just a routine but a strategic approach to life's challenges, enabling individuals to apply biblical wisdom to their circumstances. Through this practice, one can align with God's will and witness the effective manifestation of His promises in their lives. [16:55]

Hebrews 4:12 - "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
Reflection: What specific steps can you take to deepen your spiritual discipline and better align your life with God's Word?

Day 4: Patience in God's Timing Yields Best Outcomes
Patience and trust in God's timing are essential for experiencing the fullness of His promises. Acting out of impatience can lead to premature outcomes that fall short of what God has planned. Waiting on the Lord allows for the development of faith and the reception of His best for our lives, as opposed to settling for immediate but lesser gratifications. [21:42]

Psalm 130:5-6 - "I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning."
Reflection: Can you identify an area in your life where you need to exercise more patience and trust in God's timing?

Day 5: Faith to Hold Out for God's Best
The metaphor of "The Price is Right" game show illustrates the importance of not settling for immediate gratification but having the faith to hold out for God's best. It is a call to trust in the abundance that God has in store and to not settle for crumbs when a whole loaf is prepared for us. This requires a steadfast faith and the courage to "roll one more time," believing in the greater blessings that await. [26:57]

Galatians 6:9 - "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Reflection: How can you resist the temptation of immediate gratification and cultivate the faith to wait for God's best in your life?

And just jump into some kind of devout as we spend some time in prayer on today.

But look what it says right here in Luke chapter 23. It said, "Now there was a man named Joseph. He was a member of the council, a good and upright man who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from a Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin."

So again, we know this story here where Jesus had just died on the cross. They just took his body and placed it inside a tomb. Again, as I said at the beginning, there was a man named Joseph who was a member of the council, a good and upright man who had not consented to their decision. He was not in agreement with the decision of doing what they did to Jesus Christ.

But at this point here, they took his body, placed it in a tomb, and the scripture said they placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one that had not been used before. Why? Because it was preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

So get the picture here. It is between Friday and it is between Sunday. We see basically Friday can represent our pain, and then Sunday can represent the promise or the manifestation of what we are believing God for.

And maybe some of you right now, you are on a Friday. You are on a pain day. You're experiencing opposition, you're experiencing struggle, you're experiencing loss, you're experiencing disappointment. But then we have in between Friday, that Saturday, when you're waiting, when you don't know what to expect, where it seems like what happened on Friday is it. It is over with. There's no turnaround. There's no comeback from this. It is literally over.

That's somewhat what Saturday represented, unless the manifestation or the breakthrough would have happened on Saturday. But in this case, we know it's not. So Friday, you're experiencing pain. You're experiencing that loss. You're experiencing that abandonment. You're experiencing that person walking out on you. Whatever the specificity of the pain that you may be experiencing, this is a picture, if you would, of what Friday could have and did look like for those who not only were hoping that what Jesus had said prior to his death would happen, that he would rise again, that he would come back.

They still had to deal with the aftereffects or the in-between moment, that Saturday of waiting for Jesus to return or for Jesus to be raised from the dead. So you're caught up between pain and promise. And maybe you're there right now. You're caught between the pain and the promise. You're caught between two opinions. You're caught between two things.

I heard someone say there's a gap between the pain and there's a gap between the promise, and that gap, I say, is Saturday. You don't know what to expect, and you don't know what is going to happen. Ephesians 4:9 said he also descended to the lower parts, the earthly regions.

So Jesus was in this transition, and I believe for many of you and I, we are in transition. I don't know what you are in transition for, what you are in transition with, but you are in transition. And if you don't know how to handle your transition, if you don't know how to handle the Saturday, if you don't know how to handle the quiet moment, if you don't know how to handle that space between the pain and the promise, it can become the catalyst. It can become the problem that ensures that the promise never manifests itself.

So my question to you is, how are you handling your in-between time? How are you handling the Saturday? How are you handling that dark space while you are waiting for what you believe that God wants to do and what God can do?

Are you giving into the pain, or are you giving into the promise? Are you still focused on what happened on Friday, or are you in expectancy of what is about to happen on Sunday? Are you still focused on who walked out, who left you, what didn't come to pass, what didn't manifest? Are you focused on that? Because it's okay to see that and to be disappointed by that, to have a remembrance of that.

But what we cannot do is allow yesterday to consume us so much so that we don't believe that our future and that Sunday and that the next day is going to be better. And this is what the enemy wants to do. He wants us to get stuck between the pain and the promise so much so that we do not believe that better days are ahead, that we do not believe that the prayers we prayed five days ago are going to manifest anything on the 15th day.

And so we have to be okay with the meantime. As I like to say, the meantime can be mean. I'm saying again, the meantime, that space between the pain and the promise, that space between the waiting and the manifestation, the meantime can be mean. Or the weight of the wait can be heavy. Are you with me?

The weight, the w-e-i-g-h-t, the weight of the w-a-i-t, it can be heavy sometimes, but you must be able to endure the meantime. You must be able to endure the weight of the wait because I believe, and I think scriptures will prove it for me, I believe that it is in your waiting time. It is in the meantime that God is developing character, that God is developing strength, that God is developing even ingenuity for some of you guys.

It is in that meantime, that wait time, he has given you another way. He has given you another answer. He has given you a strategy. And many times if we get focused on the problem so much so we miss the strategy that God is trying to manifest in our life.

Father, I pray for someone right now who is in a meantime, who is in a waiting period right now, who is waiting for the manifestation, who is waiting for the breakthrough. And the enemy wants them to hit the rock. He wants them to strike the rock like Moses. But I declare right now that they cannot and they will not strike the rock. They will not allow the pain of the moment, the confusion of the moment. They will not allow themselves to allow the stress of what they're experiencing right now to cause them to strike the rock, to cause them to throw in the towel, to cause them to give up.

The meantime can be mean, but in this meantime, in this waiting period, Father God, we would develop strength. We would develop stamina. We would develop the power, the strength that is necessary that will allow us to get victory in every area that is trying to have victory over us.

I declare that fear will not have them. Shame will not have them. Disappointment will not allow them to strike the rock. We will not strike rocks in this season because we are getting impatient. We will not strike rocks in this season because we are losing hope. We will not strike rocks in this season because we are being inconsistent with our prayer time, our worship time, with our study time, whatever the specificity of it may be.

We will not strike the rock. We are believing God for the impossible. We are believing God for more, even when our circumstances, even when our situations, are contrary to what we believe. It is contrary to what we are hoping for. We are not moved by our conditions. We are not moved by the moment. We are believed by what we are hopeful, what we are expecting.

Father, our faith is greater than our pain. Our faith is greater than our conditions. And we stand on that faith today that there's nothing too hard for our God. Our God can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think or even imagine according to the power that is at work on the inside of you.

And my question to you today is, is that power at work on the inside of you? Not asleep, not dormant, but it is actively at work on the inside of you. And how is it actively at work on the inside of you? Through your consistently engaging in prayer, engaging in studying the Word of God.

Listen, if you don't put nothing in, nothing will come out. And I know there are signs for many of you that you're not putting anything in. Why? Because nothing is coming out. So the more you put in, the more that is able to come out, and it allows you to engage with the Holy Spirit. It allows you to understand what the Holy Spirit is saying. It allows you to understand what that word said on yesterday.

It allows you to be able to take what I'm saying even right now and to begin to place it strategically in your life so that you can have fruit from what you're hearing. So you can have fruit from what you're experiencing so that you can effectively do and live out and manifest what God desires for you to manifest and do in this season.

Father, I declare that they're moving into a season of manifestation, that they are moving out of a state where everything's in the spirit realm, where everything is in a hopeful realm. But God, what they hope for is going to begin to manifest. What they dream for is going to manifest. What they've been talking about is going to manifest.

I believe that in this moment, in this season, God is moving many of you from a place of talking about it, from a place of dreaming about it, to a place where there is about to be a physical manifestation, that a phone call is about to come, that a door is about to open, that someone is about to manifest what you have been praying for and hopeful for.

So don't give up. Don't throw in the towel. One can chase 1,000. Two will put 10,000 to flight. And today, our prayers are coming together. We are causing things to be accelerated. We are causing things to move at a supernatural speed because again, one can chase 1,000, but two of us, three of us, 80 of us, we can cause a lot of things to happen because the weight of our unity, because the weight of our coming together, it has the power to accelerate the things that God desires to manifest in our life.

While you are stuck between, while you are caught up in the middle, while you are caught up between your pain and your promise, in the middle of that needs to be consistency. It needs to be desire. It needs to be determination. It needs to be discipline plowing through and pushing through so that the manifestation of the promises of God will come to pass.

Yesterday was bad. Friday was bad. But I'm telling you, Sunday is coming. Your proverbial Sunday is coming, and it is going to manifest the promises of God. It's going to manifest the deliverance of God. It's going to manifest the healing of God.

And I declare that over your children. I declare that over your sons and daughters. I declare that over your husband. I declare that over your wife. I declare that as you're standing between the pain and the promise, just like a woman who is in travail, just like a woman who's about to give birth to a child, you may feel the pain now. You may have remembrance of the pain now. You may have remembrance of yesterday now.

But I'm telling you, there's coming a moment, there's coming a day that the pain you are experiencing because you're about to give birth to purpose and to destiny and to a vision and to a dream that you're about to give birth to it. And when it comes forth, you are not going to remember the pain of yesterday. Why? Because of the joy today.

So don't get consumed by the pain of yesterday because you are going to be consumed by the joy and the pleasure and the manifestation of the very things that you have been believing God for and that you have been trusting God for.

I'm going to go so far as to say this for some of you. You must wait patiently. Hebrews chapter six, verse 15 said, "And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received the promise." Abraham was able to receive the promise of God because he waited.

We know there was a season where he got ahead of his skis, where he did not trust God, where he did not believe God. And they did something out of the will of God. And the Bible tells us that they gave birth to an Ishmael. Abraham had his wife sleep with another woman who would later become pregnant and give birth to a child that they would name Ishmael.

And Ishmael represents everything that we give birth to out of the will and the seasons and the plan of God. And this is not the time for you to give birth to any Ishmaels in your life because you are impatient, because you are getting ahead of your skis, because you want to do it your way.

It says in Hebrews 6:15, "And so after waiting patiently, after Abraham got it together, after he repented of what they did, he began to trust and wait on God." And the Bible says after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised unto him.

Somebody needs to learn how to wait patiently. James chapter one, two says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials," talking about your Friday, if you would, "of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith," this is what's happening on Saturday, this is what's happening in between Friday and Sunday, the manifestation of your promise, "because you know that the testing of your faith, it develops perseverance."

So here we go again, that your Saturday, that your meantime, your waiting time, it is doing something for you. And if you bypass Saturday, if you manipulate your Saturday, you're going to miss the tools that you need to be able to store on your Sunday.

The reason why some of us get things that we manifest and then we lose them is because we did not develop the character and the stamina and the wherewithal that is necessary in the meantime to carry and to handle the weight of what God has been trying to manifest in our life.

Who am I talking to right now? You have to learn how to wait. James 1:4 said, "Perseverance must finish its work." It must finish its assignment. It must accomplish what it needs to do. This is why you cannot allow people to get you out of things faster than God desires to get you out.

You don't need people to bail you out of certain things. Sometimes God needs for us to endure hardness as a good soldier because sometimes he's using that to do something, to develop and to strengthen us.

Perseverance, according to James 1:4, must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. Who am I talking to right now that you have not realized or you are realizing this morning that what God wanted to do, that God was manifesting something? He was building something. He's trying to strengthen something on the inside of you, and you have not developed what he was or grabbed a hold, if you would, of what God is trying to do in that.

I see Brittany said me. I think a lot of us can throw our hands up, whether it's now or in the past, we can be honest. If we can be honest with ourselves, we can say it was me. I was not patient with God, and now I have allowed Ishmaels.

Come on. Some of you can look back over in your life and you can go back and see, this is why this happened here. If I would have waited on God, some of you may have gotten married prematurely. You may have let something go prematurely. You quit a job or you accepted a job prematurely, and the right one, the divine one, was a couple days away.

It was a couple weeks away, but because you got ahead of your skis, you were impatient. You didn't trust God. This door opened because every door that opens is not a door from God. Sometimes it is a door from the enemy, and sometimes the doors from the enemy can look attractive and they can look good, but sometimes we miss the fullness of what God has for us because we settle for doors that give us a meal for today.

We settle for doors that answer problems for today, but we rob ourselves of doors that not only were going to give us food for today, it was going to give us food for a month. It was going to give us food for a season. Come on, who am I talking to right now? You settled for crumbs, and the crumbs looked good, but God was trying to give you the whole loaf of bread because you were impatient waiting on God.

I'm telling someone on today, we have to learn that in our scripture says, "In your patience, you possess your soul." In your patience, we possess ours. Don't let the devil bring you what has been masqueraded as a whole loaf. Don't allow him to bring you a preview, a picture, if you would, of the fullness of what God really wants to give to you because what he's doing is he's using it as bait to lure you into or to lure you away from the fullness of what's to come.

Have you ever watched The Price is Right or The Wheel of Fortune? No, I'm sorry. The Price is Right, and they roll that wheel one more time or they roll that wheel once and they get 20 or they get 60, and they now have to make a decision. Do I want to go one more time, or do I want to just stick with the 60?

If I roll one more time and I go over 40, I disqualify myself, but if I roll one more time, I may get 35, and it puts me closer to 100. And sometimes they settle at that 60 if they have faith to roll one more time.

I don't know who I'm talking to right now. You need the kind of faith today that will allow you to roll one more time. I know the 60 looks good. I know the 70 looks good. I know the 80 looks good. I know even the 90 looks good right now, but I hear God saying for some of you, roll one more time.

Don't settle for the crumbs. The whole loaf is on the roll. Don't settle for a man, for a woman, for a job, for an idea that will meet your needs for the day, but it will not meet your needs for the rest of the month or for the rest of your life.

Don't settle for crumbs when God is ready to give you a whole loaf. You are better than that. There is more for you. I truly have not seen and heard, neither has it fully entered into your heart what God has in store for you.

I am convinced, Mr. Pitton, David, Sheila, I am convinced, and who can have ears to hear what God desires to speak over your life. I declare that God desires to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that you can think, ask, and to see something that will be impossible with man, impossible with God. You can see your victory; it takes the same level of strength.

1) "Our faith is greater than our conditions. And we stand on that faith today that there's nothing too hard for our God." [16:55] (Download)

2) "While you are stuck between, while you are caught up in the middle, consistency needs to be there. It needs to be desire, determination, discipline pushing through for the promises of God." [18:25] (Download)

3) "Yesterday was bad. But I'm telling you, Sunday is coming. Your proverbial Sunday is coming and it is going to manifest the promises of God." [19:59] (Download)

4) "We settle for doors that answer problems for today, but we rob ourselves of doors that would give us food for a season." [25:10] (Download)

5) "Don't settle for crumbs when God is ready to give you the whole loaf. You are better than that. There is more for you." [26:57] (Download)

6) "The meantime can be mean, but in this meantime, in this waiting period, we develop strength, stamina, and the power necessary to get victory." [13:45] (Download)

7) "We are not moved by our conditions. We are moved by what we are hopeful for, what we are expecting." [15:15] (Download)

8) "After waiting patiently, Abraham received the promise. Somebody needs to learn how to wait patiently." [21:42] (Download)

9) "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing." [23:25] (Download)