What Will This Day Bring Forth?
"And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country,
and laid on him the cross to carry it behind Jesus."
-Luke 23:26
We never know what will happen in any given day. That is never more true than in warfare. But the soldier or Marine has geared his mind for a vast array of unexpected experiences and casualties. Seldom do we think we will be WIA or KIA. We don't say we won't be hit, but subconsciously feel it will be someone else…unless there is a clear premonition, which does happen in a few singular cases.
Simon was a rugged farmer from the countryside of Cyrene. Just looking at him with his rugged build, gnarly hands and deeply tanned features, it was evident that he could carry a heavy load, even a roughly-hewn cross.
When he left home that morning, we can well imagine that though he had heard rumors of exciting events in Jerusalem, he had no inkling that he would become part of the greatest drama in all of history, bar none. He would have no portent that he was to be singled out from the anonymity of the milling masses to be caught up in eternal matters by being compelled to carry Jesus' cross.
When the finger of God unexpectedly points at us, we must be ready to respond. God sovereignly appointed Simon to bear the cross of the only perfect One who ever trod this earth. Did he do it willingly, as if it were a privilege, or grudgingly? Did he know in his heart of hearts that Jesus was the Christ, Son of the Living God? We can only speculate as to the answers.
God speaks, acts and commands us in amazing ways; in this case through a Roman soldier. Be ready, O man and woman, for God to touch your life in amazing, unexpected, and even a very insignificant manner. It could well be, like Simon, completely different from your own ideas, imagination and expectation.
Lord, what will this day bring forth in my life?
