Are You Weary in the Waiting? Lessons from Luke 23

Dec 23, 2021 | Bible & Beans Blog

With a conversation from yesterday fresh in my mind, I slept restless last night. These things need to be discussed as our journey moves towards a day of reckoning. How I manage the stress of this season is where I’m learning the lessons.

Today I take special notice of Simon of Cyrene. Oh my, how abruptly his day changed after he was seized and forced to carry the cross to Calvary for Jesus. Not only his day, but perhaps his life? Imagine carrying that weight around for life…

And I notice Joseph of Arimathea––a good and righteous man who played no role in the shouts of “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” I’ve read he was a secret supporter of Jesus. Imagine the weight of remaining silent and then being prompted and sent to boldly ask for His body…

Then there’s the women who faithfully followed Jesus wherever He went. We see them throughout this chapter lurking in the background. Watching. Pondering. They witness Him being laid in the tomb and so they wanted to do their part and went home to prepare spices and ointments to preserve His body. But the Sabbath is now upon them. And so they rested according to the commandment. How restless were their hearts? Oh, that seems like another heavy weight to bear. Were they wrestling between their obedience and their desire to go to Him?

Weary Hearts…

My heart weeps for each of the above. In my humanness I’m feeling the heavy weight of these thoughts:

“I’m responsible for His death. I carried His cross!”

“Why didn’t I speak up when I had the chance?”

“Why did I wait so long to act?”

Did they carry these heavy thoughts for life? Did they have many moments of weariness and weepiness with the Lord?

Back to my conversation from yesterday.

Peering into Luke 23 and witnessing the chaos and frenzy in the legal proceedings, this season has some of us walking the halls of injustice. I’m here. Maybe you can relate to something in your life seeming unfair, unjust, unethical, unreal…how in the world did I get here?!? It’s a very real season of the very real unknown.

Simon, Joseph, and the women were plucked from history to play a tremendous role in the greatest story of all time. Did they know?

Perhaps you’ve been plucked from your steady and stable life and plopped down in the middle of your own chaos and frenzy for reasons unknown. It’s hard. I know. You’re prone to weeping and praying and weeping and praying some more. And you’re weary.

Are you weeping and praying?

And I wept a little in this conversation yesterday, but I was reminded:

Believing is my job. The outcome is God’s job.

Oh, such a good reminder. I’m clinging to that as this season intensifies. I have no control over the outcome of this trial––but I know who does. And I choose to trust that God is protecting me in the unknown. That fills my heart as I cling to joy.

I don’t know how Simon, Joseph and the women carried on after their role in this day in history, but I trust Jesus gave them peace and joy and comforted their restless and weary hearts.

He will do the same for you.

In our Seeking Joy journey

That’s the truth. There we can rest and relax now that we’ve found the joy in our seeking joy journey today.

I want to leave you with one more reminder to help us navigate this very difficult chapter in Luke. Don’t ever forget that Jesus did this all for the joy. Do not lose heart.

Hebrews 12:1–3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.