The Bubbling Brook

“As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.” Luke 23:26, NLT

The other day on my way to work, I noticed an elderly lady having some trouble getting onto the bus. Along the way to her seat, there were people making room for her – some offered up their seat, some reached out a hand, and I was behind her as if I was spotting a world record Olympic weight lifting attempt. In due time she found her way to a seat and sat down gently. As she got up to get off the bus a stop early, once again people stood up, held their arms out to make sure she didn’t fall and ultimately created a human safety net around her. As the door opened and she got ready to leave, she turned around and said thank you to everyone for their help, a big bright smile gleaming across her face. Though her body was frail, and her movement was limited, I perceived her as a strong woman.

The Lord spoke to me as I pondered on this woman, and a phrase popped into my head – ‘strength does not require the absence of help’. Here was a woman long into her lifetime, moving slower than normal, yet I cannot describe her as anything but strong.

When I was thinking over this encounter, I thought of Jesus carrying his cross, and how He wasn’t alone because He had His Father in heaven strengthening Him along the way. But as I read more into this historic moment, I realized that there was someone else, another human who had helped Jesus on His last mile to Calvary. It was Simon of Cyrene, a city in Africa, who was chosen out of the crowd to carry the cross for Jesus for the last mile before his crucifixion. In a moment where our Lord and Savior had nothing left in Him, when He was knocking on deaths door and very easily would have died of exhaustion by carrying the cross that last mile, there was a mortal man from a foreign land who came in and helped Jesus survive so he could fulfill his destiny.

You don’t have to carry your cross alone. There will be people along your life journey that will have their hands out waiting to pull you across the finish line. There is a Father in Heaven who wishes to have a relationship with you so he can let you in on the beautiful plans he has for your life. All you have to do is relinquish control, and grab that hand that so desperately wants to pull you up when you get knocked down. The choice is yours ❤

If you’d like me to pray for you, you can submit prayer requests to: bubblingbrookinc@gmail.com

Love y’all, have a blessed week 🙂