Take up your cross

“Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:38 NIV

Once in a while I will find myself watching a movie or television show that I have seen before. My favorite movies are my favorite for a reason. Even though I know the plot and the details of the movie and even though I know how it is going to end, I can still get caught up in the drama. That is kind of weird when you think about it.

Even better, I can watch a game that I have seen before, Superbowl LIV, for example. My favorite team won, but if I watch a re-play of the game, I still get kind of nervous when we fall behind and I know who wins in the end.

I have been thinking about this today. I am on the road working. Any time that is true there are parts of the day going poorly. There are also parts of the day that are going well. Really that is probably true of nearly every day. I was getting a little tired of no one answering the door. I did not have much to show for the effort, but just like many times before the next door produced two good sales which made it a great day. My client even made me go get my phone so I could show her pictures of my garden. Comparative analysis of raised garden beds was fun until I remembered that she is 20 years older than me.

Most of the life lessons I am currently taking tests over are like watching a replay. On some topics I have literally been re-learning the same material for over a decade. Why? I have friends who do not struggle at all in areas that trip me up. I also have no struggle with some topics that trip them up. I can get caught up in the drama even though I have seen the outcome before.

The mosaic of this same day included one friend was told cancer had returned. One friend was released from the hospital after having a stroke last week. I thought we were too young for that. I heard about a young man taken to the hospital today to discover a blood sugar level over 1,000 (that is astronomically high). I heard an update of a friend losing a fight against addiction. I can see families barely hanging on all the while telling everyone they are fine. I had a client today who told me of her husband passing away late last year. At the start of that day, they were not aware of any problem. By the end of the day, the problem that was discovered had taken his life. One day.

My mind will look at my life and compare the journey I am on with what I perceive as someone else’s journey. I will also frequently judge myself as “losing” that comparison. That is really misplaced energy. In most cases I have no idea what all someone is experiencing – the cross they are carrying. I also rarely see my own struggles as being part of the cross God asked me to carry. I will assume punishment when He is asking me to have a role. God does, in fact, have a job for me. He has one for you too.

I noticed something about the verse for today. It does not say “take up a cross”. It says, “take up their cross”. That is possessive. Hard things in my life are not random. My cross is mine, made specifically for me. Sometimes it is heavy. But I know who wins in the end.

Salvation is not an immediate relocation to heaven. It is a journey to heaven. It is also not a promise of a trouble-free life until we get there. Grace guarantees victory but does not give us a detour around those troubles. At no point does God promise us problem free living. In fact, He tells us we will have problems. I have not been doing a good job lately seeing problems as my cross. My motivation is entirely different when I am open to this radical idea – God has a job for me. He has one for you too.

What is your most consistent struggle?

Have you ever considered whether or not God put the struggle there? He may have placed a specific problem squarely in your way to reach someone you may never meet.

Challenge: We can think of life like watching a replay of a game already played. There are highs and lows and some drama. We can be behind on the scoreboard, but we know God wins. Struggles are real, but so is God. Take up your cross for Him.

Rick L. Claiborn