SWITCHING CROSSES

Jesus spoke of us having to carry our cross. He wasn’t necessarily speaking of the cross like the one used in the crucifixion, but of that daily burden and the pains and suffering that often go with it. At least I associate the cross with a degree of suffering. I don’t think he would have mentioned having to carry a cross if it was speaking of just having fun. We hardly need any encourage to do something that just brings pleasure.

What we can appreciate though I think is how the cross we must bear is not always one of our choosing. I think God knows us well enough to recognize that if we had to choose we would pick out a cross that was easy to bear or was even fun or pleasurable because we were good at doing that given burden.

Part of bearing that cross is the weariness of choice. We have to pick it up daily. We do so knowing it won’t necessarily be fun, but God’s spirit will give us the strength to be faithful.

In life, the daily crosses one faces even when one is not a Christian is a reality that we sometimes manage to avoid. We don’t always succeed, but there are times when for one reason or another we will find a way to lift the burden and perhaps get someone else to carry it.

However with the Lord we don’t necessarily have that choice. For carrying that cross is part of the burden upon as in our walk of faith. We don’t get to choose the cross or the path, but we do get to choose whether to obey when faced with our burden. Some do, some don’t respond. That is the freedom of will God grants us.

Perhaps the one problem with the whole concept of crosses and carrying them is that they can change. We can get used to a given cross. Carrying it may become less of a burden and something we simple do out of habit. That can often be the point where we stop feeling quite the same need to trust God for strength.

And that is the time when God may surprise us by switching the cross we are expected to bear. That doesn’t mean we enjoy or want the change, but there are a variety or reasons it happens. It will test us in our faith and obedience. It will sometimes even help us to discover some aspect of our lives or abilities we didn’t even know existed. But the Lord always does that for our own good even if we have trouble understanding it at the time.

However just like any cross we have to choose to accept it and that can be difficult. We might not want the change. We have become so comfortable with the current routine we aren’t interested in any additional burden that will result in the kind of pain or discomfort we have manage to overcome. And we may feel we have “arrived” in terms of spiritual maturity and proven ourselves enough or paid enough dues in our walk of faith to be entitled to a break in that regard.

Those are the times unfortunately when we are most likely to face having to switch crosses. And those are also the times when our faith can truly be challenge the most. I pray we see the change as a blessing and not a punishment.