We call it "Good Friday," but no one standing there that day would have called that Friday "good." The best man that history ever knew was nailed to a Roman cross and murdered. For His enemies it was a victory of sorts; for the soldiers it was simply another day's work; for His followers it was the death of their brightest hopes and greatest dreams. But no one would have called that Friday "good."

That is true of many "bad Fridays" if you consider them apart from Resurrection Sunday. They make life seem futile--without purpose and meaning. But God's most striking victories rise out of the graves of apparent defeats.

In his book Idols for Destruction, Herbert Schlossberg wrote, "We are not the lords of history and do not control its outcome, but we have assurance that there is a Lord of history and He controls its outcome. We need a theological interpretation of disaster, one that recognizes that God acts in such events as captivities, defeats, and crucifixions. The Bible can be interpreted as a string of God's triumphs disguised as disasters."

Face each day with trust in Jesus Christ. God's greatest victories often come disguised as defeats.  — Haddon W. Robinson