Chance Encounters

And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.   Mark 15:21

From all I can tell, that is all that God's Word tells us about the chance encounter Simon of Cyrene had with the Son of God.  This encounter has been depicted in film, in song, and in Easter and Christmas pageants.  But, in truth, this is all we know of Simon, except that he was the father of two sons.  I can't help but wonder, though, what impact this chance encounter had on him.

Was he changed?  Did he know whose cross he was bearing?  What must his sons have thought?  Simon is one of a very few people who are forever memorialized by a brief encounter with Jesus Christ in His earthly lifetime.  

What about the people who encounter me?  I bear the image of the Creator, and the mark of the Holy Spirit.  I bear the name of Christ.  People cross my path every day.  Strangers, whom I may never see again.  People who may be lost, hurting, wandering.  Believers who may be suffering silently.  Are they changed by our encounter?  Do I reflect Christ well enough to make a difference?  Do they know they have been in the presence of the Holy One?  

That is my prayer.  

And as I think about it, it is my prayer for my daughter and the team she is serving with in Latvia this week.  I pray that the people they encounter this week will be changed for eternity.  I pray they will know that they have been introduced to the Savior of their souls.  May their futures be forever changed.  May the name of Jesus be forever memorialized in that little corner of the world because 13 people decided to travel around the world to share Him.