A Daily Cross

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

Once there were scientists who had taken mice and subjected them to inescapable stimuli using sensory deprivation. What they discovered was that two-thirds of the mice eventually gave up and stopped trying to escape or avoid the pain. But the other third never gave up and continually tried to escape.

It is also a natural instinct of a human being to escape or avoid any kind of pain. Nobody wants to suffer. Nobody wants pain. However, just like the experiment, struggles are inescapable.

We may choose to escape but choosing not to face a struggle never solves the problem. We may pray for the mountains to be removed but there are times that we have to climb the mountain. Jesus Christ Himself said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

Contrary to what other people believe, Christianity means a daily cross. Paul Tournier observed,

We are nearly always longing for an easy religion, easy to understand and easy to follow; a religion with no mystery, no insoluble problems, no snags; a religion that would allow us to escape from our miserable human condition; a religion in which contact with God spares us from all strife, all uncertainty, all suffering and all doubt; a religion without the cross.

Paul Tournier

Christ, our perfect example, teaches us that our pain ministers to us in many ways. Among all the blessings of adversity, however, the way our personal struggles minister to other people is remarkable.

Jesus endured the pain of the cross. He had the power to avoid it. He had the authority to send angels and take Him out of it. In fact, it was His prayer: just like us, His human nature wanted to avoid the suffering.

But there is a power behind the cross that He wanted to unleash. He knew that it is only through the cross that He is able to redeem us back to Him. Without the cross, we have no promise of resurrection. Without the pain, we have no salvation. He endured so that the cross can minister to you and me.

Our daily cross has the power to minister to other people. When was the last time that we inspired a person to endure their unavoidable problems just because they saw how faithful we are to our daily crosses? When was the last time that we rekindled hope in the life of a person just because they learned how we successfully went through our despair?

You and I can never be a disciple without a cross. You and I can never witness without a testimony. And there will be no greater testimony than a life that endured pain and sufferings, no life is greater than a life with a daily cross.