Luke 14:27--KJV--And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
In the last blog, I likened our hurts, angers and jealousies to a flat tire on our journey to God's Promises. There are things that you can deal with by forgiving and learning how to love in a Godly manner. However, there are somethings that we just have to live with until God comes on the scene and removes them.
These are called our cross and Jesus instructs us to carry it. You may be struggling with an unsaved spouse, children or parent. It might be your job. It might be your church. It might be your financial situation. It might be a sickness or a loved one's illness.
We struggle under the load of things that have come upon us and we seemingly have no control over. I have come to believe that the things that have come to me that I don't have control over have come to me because God has control over them. He controls them when they come and I remind myself daily that He controls them when they go.
Then why does God allow them to come our way? It certainly is NOT because He hates us for some reason. God bragged on Job to the devil one day. The devil bargained that if God would take down the hedge of protection (Job 1:10) from Job that God had put around him the devil would cause Job to curse God to his face. Even though he lost his children, his crops, animals and health, Job never cursed God. The end of the story was that God restored to Job twice as much as was taken from him because he had remained faithful.
Let's learn this lesson. When things come upon us that are not in our control, remember that they ARE in God's control. That's where you put your faith. (1 Corinthians 10:13) God creates a blessing set aside for us at the same time He gives the devil the go ahead to come after us. And that blessing is much more than the pain and agony of spirit that the trial causes.
It's hard to understand sometimes until you understand God's reason for your cross. He plainly said in Luke 14:27 that if you didn't bear your cross then you couldn't be His disciple. A disciple is a student. What Jesus is saying here is that if you don't carry your cross, you'll never learn anything from Him. Oh, yes you will learn plenty from the things that you go through every day. But, Jesus said you can't learn anything from HIM if you don't carry your cross daily.
If we are constantly whining and whimpering about what we're having to go through, the only thing we'll learn about is how to whine to get your way. God doesn't lead around a bunch of whiners. He'll just let you go whatever way you want to go and do what you want to do. However, it's ONLY in learning about Him that you'll ever be able to overcome your situation.
When we submit and pick up our cross daily we come to know Him in a more personal way. Knowing Jesus in your awkward situation will give you the wisdom and strength to be an overcomer. Jesus submitted to the cross because He knew that it was the only way to bring redemption to a fallen man. It was the only way to give man back his superiority over satan and all of his forces.
Jesus didn't submit to the cross as an act of weakness, he submitted due to an act of strength and character. The same thing happens to us when we submit to our cross and follow Jesus. We find a strength and a wisdom that we never thought we had. As our relationship to Jesus grows, the cross gets lighter. A happy anticipation of good things to come begins to rise in us.
Pretty soon we begin to look forward to living a resurrected life like Paul did. In Philippians 3:10, he said he wanted to know Jesus in the power of His resurrection. That's what gave Paul the fortitude to go through the hardships that God put him through. Paul kept expecting more of God and more of God and more of God to show up. As he carried his cross daily God kept manifesting Himself in Paul's life daily.
Bear your cross. Learn about Jesus. Become more than a conqueror.
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