Often when we are working toward a big goal, we enter a period when nothing seems to be happening. It is an awkward time when we don’t know for sure whether or not we will be successful. This period reminds me of the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. On Good Friday, Jesus was crucified and buried. Then there was Saturday. For Christians today, Saturday is when we prepare for Easter celebrations because we know how the story ends. However, for the disciples, it was a time when everything was uncertain. For the disciples, Saturday was a period of waiting for the unknown.

In the same way, there is a time of uncertainty when we try to achieve big goals. We’ve been working hard, and now we are hoping for some sort of payback. The challenge during this period is that we don’t know how our story is going to end. What do we do on the “Saturday,” when we are working toward our goals but there is no clear guarantee of future success?

This in-between period is when many people give up.   We are a society that expects immediate gratification. Waiting for a reward doesn’t come naturally to us. However, being able to forge through this period is the difference between those who achieve their dreams, and those who don’t.   This is the time during which we are tested. Do we really want this goal? Are we willing to do what it takes to achieve it?? Are we willing to risk the possibility of failure for the possibility of success???

Typically we only see successful people after they have achieved their goals. We don’t see when they struggled and weren’t sure if their efforts would pay off. For instance, we didn’t witness J.K. Rowling penning her first Harry Potter book, a 309 page tome, without any guarantee of publication. We likewise didn’t watch Bill Gates when he dropped out of Harvard to risk starting his own computer company. We only see successful folks when they are at their peak. We don’t see the prior leaps of faith that they had to take in order to achieve something great.

And then there are some people who never have a Saturday. Why? Because they never try to achieve anything that is beyond their life experience. They stay within their comfort zone. The problem with that approach to life is that God did not create us to live in our comfort zone. We were made for a purpose, and typically that purpose demands that we do things that we’ve never done. Sometimes we even are asked to do something that no one in our family has ever done. The good news is that when we do things that are scary, hard and unknown, we come closer to God. When we try to do things that seem impossible, we show our faith in the fact that if we do our best, then God will do the rest.

There is a terrific quote by Trina Paulus from the book, Hope for the Flowers. “How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.” And that is the key for all of us who are trying to do something more. When we reach the “Saturday” in our journey toward our goal, do we decide to remain caterpillars, where it is safe, and give up? Or, do we risk moving forward in the hope that someday we might become a butterfly? I hope today you will choose the path of the butterfly.