Bearing Your Cross

Do you have a cross you bear? I do, in fact I have a couple of physical/medical ones that can really wreck havoc on my quality of life if I allow them to. But I imagine everyone can come up with at least one thing that makes their life a bit of a struggle. If we are not careful we can let these overwhelm us……at least I can. What can we do about these issues? Especially if they are due to circumstances that are out of our control. After a couple of discouraging days this last week, I was ready for some answers to this question.

Without a doubt the easiest and foremost is to pray. I know some people do not believe in prayer, but I do….and I am the one writing this blogJ God does answer our prayers. The Bible is full of examples of answered prayers. My favorite is 1 Chronicles 4:10

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

Pretty straightforward; Jabez prayed; God answered; YES! But what if I don’t get those same results? I said God answers prayer, but not necessarily in our time, and not always with the answer we want. So if prayer is not bringing the result I want, then what?

Accept help from others, and offer help to others in return. This can be difficult. We are often so proud. So hesitant to reach out for help when we really need it. We are supposed to rely on one another. Be a help to those in need. And when you are the one in need, graciously accept the help offered. Galatians 6:2, says…

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ

And while we are unloading some burdens, let’s just go all the way and turn it over to God. Wait, I covered that in prayer, right? Well, not really. See, turning all my burdens over to Christ to bear means a measure of acceptance. It acknowledges that my prayer may not be answered with a yes, but a no. It is me accepting that answer and allowing Jesus to bear a load that may be far too heavy for little me to carry alone. Those heavy chains I tote around are pretty tiring. But if I let Jesus carry them…..well, they may still follow me around, but they won’t wear me down! In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says…

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Really it doesn’t seem so difficult now. Except for one more small thing I need to do. For me, this is the most difficult. Rejoice in my trials. Really? Who wants to rejoice in pain, in suffering, in difficult times? My human nature is more on the side of whine, cry, and complain. But I have to assume Paul knew what he was talking about in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

…. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

So I will go forward this week, relying on God, friends and family. And hopefully learning to rejoice just a little more in my trials.

God Bless ~Marla