Carrying your cross

Matthew 16:25 - Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 

Jesus made this statement after Peter's revelatory understanding,“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” and the subsequent harsh rebuke by Jesus when Peter tried to dissuade the Master from heading to the cross.

Jesus was dead serious about His cross and He expects us to carry our own, if we want to be His disciples. The point is as disciples, each one of us has a different cross to carry. The cross that I carry may not be the same as yours. Yet we can draw some lessons from the statement Jesus made:

Jesus was focused on the Purpose of His cross.   The Lord knew what He was on this earth. He knew His time was short. But no matter what that purpose had to be fulfilled. And nothing could discourager Him from achieving His purpose. His cross was always at the centre of  His journey, everything else was at the circumference. And its so important that we as His disciples know what our purpose in life is and keep it the main thing in our own journey. Everything else is a distraction.

Jesus knew the Pain in His cross.    The prophet Isaiah painfully described the agony and torture the cross of Jesus afforded: He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:3-5). His cross was pain and suffering. Sometimes we think, and thanks to many good-intended preachers, christian life is all about prosperity, wealth, health and sickness free. "If you are not healed its because you don't have faith". I wonder how these preachers will explain the fact that the early apostles were not rich, some not healthy and all of them died a miserable death. As Leonard Ravenhill said, "The early church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions. Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality, and popularity.”

I believe that in any situation we pray by faith, claiming the promises of God. No matter how bad or difficult the situation, we trust God for a healing or breakthrough. And we have seen in our lives and ministry how the Lord has answered the prayers in impossible situations. God is able and He is the miracle working God.

But sometimes, after much prayer, we still don't see the answers. Some situation we really can't explain why God allows us to go through pain and suffering, like the current Covid situation where many godly men of God have succumbed. I simply don't have answers. 

But could it be that this is the cross God wants us to carry. The painful disease, the constant verbal assaults and many challenges in the work and ministry. They seem to keep coming up again and again. And they don't seem to go away in spite of all the "fasting and prayer".

I am reminded of the Apostle Paul who had a similar situation in His life:

2 Cor 12:7-9 - I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Go did not take away his thorn but God gave him the grace to bear the pain. And had a reason for not taking the thorn from Paul -"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited".

If you are going through some situations in your life, similar to what Paul has mentioned, my suggestion is keep praying for a breakthrough and at the same time be assured of God's grace as this is the cross you need to carry. He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 3:5)

Jesus Persevered to fulfil His cross.   Jesus was not distracted. Luke 9:51 says - As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. His mind was set. The people wanted to make Him king. He could have done more miracles and get a name for Himself. But as the writer to the Hebrews tells us in 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. Jesus did not give up, He persevered till the end. And what a glorious finish. 

What a lesson to be learnt from the master. Let us carry our cross and persevere as His disciples. And the good new is He gives us the grace to press on. "the Spirit helps us in our weakness" (Rom 8:26)