Wednesday Read: October 28 - Three Days Until November

Three days after today, November begins. October 28, 29, 30 - that's all the October you have left. Then October 31, the final day. Then it's over. New month, fresh start, different possibilities. But you're not in November yet. You're completing October. These three days matter.

Jesus spent three days in the tomb. From Friday's crucifixion to Sunday's resurrection, three days separated catastrophe from victory, death from life, despair from hope. Those three days were necessary - not wasted time but essential passage. Saturday the Sabbath required rest. The tomb required its season. Resurrection couldn't come without death's completion.

Your final three days might feel like tomb time - between what you hoped October would be and what November might bring. The month didn't deliver what you expected. Three days feels too short to accomplish anything meaningful. But tomb time isn't wasted time. God works in waiting periods.

Consider Lazarus. Jesus delayed two days after hearing Lazarus was sick. By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead four days. Martha said: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died" (John 11:21). She was right. Jesus could have prevented Lazarus's death. Instead, he let him die, wait four days in the tomb, and then raised him. Why?

Jesus explained: "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it" (John 11:4). Healing sick Lazarus would have been impressive. Raising dead Lazarus was unprecedented. The delay wasn't neglect. It was setup for greater glory.

Maybe October's delays serve similar purpose. What you asked God for in early October hasn't come. Three days remain. It seems too late. But maybe the delay positions greater demonstration of God's power. Maybe what comes in October's final days will be more significant than anything that could have come earlier.

Or maybe October's purpose wasn't producing breakthrough but building character. Maybe the month's value isn't outcome but formation. God measures success differently than we do. We measure results. He measures faithfulness. We want breakthrough. He wants transformation.

Paul wrote from prison: "I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel" (Philippians 1:12). Prison seemed like disaster - his mission halted, his freedom ended, his ministry stopped. But God used imprisonment to spread the gospel through the imperial guard and embolden other believers.

October might have felt like prison - confined by circumstances, limited by difficulties, restricted by obstacles. But God might be using what felt like failure to accomplish purposes you can't see yet. Three days remain. Don't judge the month until it's complete.

Jonah was three days in the fish before being vomited onto shore to preach to Nineveh. Esther fasted three days before approaching the king to save the Jews. Jesus predicted three days from destruction of the temple to its rebuilding - referring to his own body. Three days repeatedly marks the period between crisis and resolution, problem and solution, death and resurrection.

These three days could be your waiting time before breakthrough. Or they could be the completion of October's actual purpose - not the outcome you wanted but the formation God intended. Either way, use them faithfully. Three days is enough time to finish well.