Sunday Read: Three Days Left
Three days. Seventy-two hours. September is nearly over. In three days, you'll wake to October - new month, new possibilities, fresh start. But you're not in October yet. You're still in September. These three days matter.
Jesus spent three days in the tomb between crucifixion and resurrection. Those days felt like ending to disciples who'd abandoned hope. Friday's horror had destroyed everything. Sunday's victory seemed impossible. Saturday was the worst - trapped between catastrophe and promised redemption, unable to see how God could possibly make good on what seemed finished.
You might feel that way now. September didn't deliver what you hoped. Goals you set remain unaccomplished. Disciplines you intended to maintain have faltered. Growth you expected hasn't materialized. The month feels like failure, and you're ready for fresh start October promises.
But Saturday teaches crucial lesson: God works in waiting time between promise and fulfillment. What looks like ending often precedes beginning. What feels like failure sometimes prepares for breakthrough. The tomb wasn't final destination - it was necessary passage to resurrection.
These three days could be your waiting time. Not wasted time or lost opportunity, but formation space where God prepares you for what's coming. Don't rush through them eager for October. Embrace them as part of September's purpose.
David wrote: "My times are in your hands" (Psalm 37:15). Not just the dramatic moments or turning points, but ordinary days and in-between times. September 27th matters as much as September 1st because God is sovereign over all your days, not just the ones that feel significant.
Consider what these three days could accomplish. Three days of focused prayer could shift something you've struggled with for weeks. Three days of intentional rest could restore what's been depleted. Three days of honest confession could bring healing you've avoided. Three days of deliberate service could impact someone profoundly.
Or these three days could slip away unnoticed - lost to distraction, consumed by busywork, wasted on what won't matter next week. The choice is yours. God provides the time. You determine how it's used.
Jesus taught: "As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work" (John 9:4). September 27th is day. You can work, pray, serve, grow. September 30th, this month ends. October begins. But you're not there yet. Use the daylight you have.
Paul urged: "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16). Make the most of every opportunity. Including these last three days of September. They're opportunities disguised as ordinary time.
What would maximize these three days? Not cramming everything you failed to do all month into frantic final push. But identifying what truly matters and giving focused attention to that. What one thing deserves these three days? What commitment, discipline, relationship, or pursuit would benefit most from your attention right now?
Maybe it's rest. Maybe September exhausted you and these three days should be Sabbath before October's demands begin. That's legitimate. Rest is doing something, not doing nothing. It's actively trusting God with outcomes while you cease striving.
Maybe it's repentance. Maybe September revealed patterns you need to confess and turn from. Three days of honest reckoning with sin could position you differently for October than three days of denial and distraction.
Maybe it's gratitude. Maybe September brought blessings you haven't acknowledged or lessons you haven't internalized. Three days of thanking God for what he did - even through difficulty - could transform your perspective.
Or maybe it's intercession. Maybe someone in your life needs prayer and these three days could be devoted to persistent asking on their behalf. Your faithfulness in prayer might be what God uses to answer what they've been requesting.
Whatever these three days should be, don't waste them. You won't get them back. October 1st arrives whether you're ready or not. Make September 27-29 count.
