Embracing my cross

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Matthew 16:24

This verse is quoted all the time it seems like. “Take up your cross” is the message so often received but how about the message “embrace your cross”? An image comes to mind of a follower of Christ embracing, hugging, a cross in humble obedience. Someone not just “taking up their cross” which could imply any amount of dragging it or shuffling of their feet, but actually meeting the very thing that is a symbol of suffering and death with a tender willingness saying “I choose this.”

I know that I forget that suffering is at the heart of the Christian ministry. In fact, I often find myself being surprised by suffering making an appearance in my own life. I thank God that these past two weeks he has been teaching me all about how, contrary to what I believe, the life of a follower of Jesus is designed for suffering in the most beautiful way.

“Death is at work in us” 2 Corinthians 4:12

When the Apostle Paul spoke these words, I can only imagine the grace he had experienced at the hands of God. He had experienced redemption through the blood of Jesus, the glory of personally encountering God, the sweetness of a life brought out of darkness into marvelous light, and the faithfulness of God in seemingly impossible situations. This is a man who knows a thing or two about being obedient when the Lord calls, even if that obedience means walking head on into suffering.

            As I look at the suffering nature of Paul’s ministry, I’m confronted with how undeniably glorious God is. And I think that’s exactly the point God is trying to get across in 2 Corinthians 4:5-7.

“For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

When we suffer, God gets the glory. As it says in verse 7: as we suffer, we are merely vessels on display showing that there is someone far greater at work in us. As it said in 2 Corinthians 4:12 how “Death is at work in us”, I believe that suffering is absolutely necessary to help us die to self and rise with Christ.

Suffering quite justly magnifies the greatness of the lord. We have what a friend of mine likes to refer to as mountain top seasons and the valleys of our lives. How could the mountain tops seem so glorious without the valleys? They just can’t. If life were all mountain tops, those glorious moments would seem far less grand and those mountains a lot more like sidewalks.

            “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” 1 Peter 4:13

In order to experience the fullness of Christ, we become partakers in His suffering as well as His glory. I often forget the calling we accept once we become Christians to die to ourselves and grow in holiness is accomplished through suffering. Suffering sounds scary, but how beautiful is it that while in the midst of our suffering, we know that it is literally making us more like our savior? 

With that mindset, I understand better why Paul counted all as loss and chose suffering time and time again. If the point of our lives and the cry of our hearts is to know Jesus, I pray that we would stop at nothing to accomplish that. Lord, help us to “count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. For his sake we have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that we may gain Christ!” Philippians 3:8

“And after you have suffered a LITTLE while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10