I had a dream last night. So vivid, I knew it was real until I woke up. When I did, I thought with disappointment, “Oh, it was only a dream.” I dreamt I was holding my first newborn son Tom, and could even smell that newborn smell. When he was born, hospital practices weren’t as they are today. Back then, after a baby was born, they were kept in nurseries away from their mothers. I was fitfully waiting to hold my baby. And when he was finally brought to me, I didn’t know what to do. He began to cry. There was no one there to help me or teach me, I just did what needed to be done. I picked him up, cuddled and spoke softly to him. Our eyes met and my adventure in doing what needed doing began.
Things changed quickly
Things changed quickly that day. Before having children I really didn’t know what it meant to take charge and do what was needed at any given moment. When diapers needed changing, baths needed taking, and crying needed soothing, I was there and did what I had to do. In the years that followed I had three more children. Every time the ability to do what had to be done was there. It didn’t matter how messy or how late I had to stay up. I just did what needed to be done.
Since three of the four are grown and married, and number four is only a few years behind them, my days of getting up for midnight feeds and diaper changes are long gone. As I think about those years, I wonder how I made it through. We were on airplanes, crossing continents, moving, and planting churches. The kids kept up somehow and here we are today.
Parents do what needs to be done. That’s all there is to it.
Fathers do what needs to be done
Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, did what needed to be done. He married Mary when she was pregnant, believing the word of an angel (see Matt. 1:20) who told him that she was carrying the Son of God. Then, he went with her while she was heavily pregnant to Bethlehem where she delivered her child in a stable (see Luke 2:4-7). He also led his family away from Herod (see Matt. 2:13) who wanted to kill Jesus. Joseph did what needed be done every time something needed to be done. It’s just what parents do.
Simon of Cyrene is another father in Scripture whose story is mind-boggling. He was in Jerusalem with his two young sons (see Mark 15:21) when Jesus was crucified.
"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 ESV
It wasn’t part of the plan but he did it anyway
Simon did what he had to do, what he was forced to do. I imagine, that when he learned of the resurrection of Jesus, his feelings of being chosen to carry the cross were much different than they were when he had the cross placed on him in the first place. His thoughts must have been for his sons, wondering where they were and who they were with. Like many of us when we face the unexpected, he may have thought it unfair that he had to bear the burden. He was only on a family trip to Jerusalem, carrying the cross wasn’t part of the original plan.
Relationships, jobs, volunteering, ministry, and just about everything we do in life will be full of unexpected, unfair, and seemingly impossible complications. Many times, at moments like these, unlike Simon of Cyrene who had no choice but to take the cross as he was forced to, we choose to back away from the challenge because it wasn’t part of the original plan. How much have we deprived ourselves from? Could it be possible that we were chosen in that difficult situation to carry something for Jesus?
I doubt anyone made plans
After Jesus was crucified, His body needed to be buried. I doubt anyone made plans for it as his 12 disciples abandoned Him. There remained a task that needed to be done. The most unlikely of candidates chose to muster his courage: Joseph of Arimathea. The Bible says in John 19:38, 39 that he was a disciple “in secret” for fear of the Jews. We always equate secrecy with weakness. This apparently wasn’t so in this Joseph’s case. Because at the moment when he was needed, he did what had to be done.
Imagine if Jesus’ body hadn’t been buried in a tomb. In that time when someone was crucified in this kind of situation, unless there was someone willing to bury the body, the dead were thrown onto garbage heaps outside the city where wild animals swiftly disposed of them. If this would have happened to Jesus, there would’ve been no empty tomb to testify of His resurrection. But Joseph of Arimathea did what needed to be done and in the scripture this “secret disciple” is called “righteous.”
"Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God."
Luke 23:50,51 ESV
Waiting for the Kingdom of God
I wonder if the key to gathering the courage to do what we need to do at any given moment is found in the character of Joseph: being someone who is waiting for the Kingdom of God. I imagine Joseph followed the ministry of Christ and being a learned man knew the Scripture. As his heart was right in waiting for the Kingdom. He understood that Jesus was special and part of the plan of the Kingdom he was anxiously waiting for.
Whatever you’re facing today, you can do it. You have the strength to do what you need to do. Keep your focus on God and put His Kingdom first. You may not understand what is happening but God is with you to complete the task. And, more importantly, you’ll be able to look back without regret knowing you did what needed to be done.
"...do what must be done, for God is with you."
1 Samuel 10:7b NLT
