The Cross Carries Us as Much as We Carry It

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Sorrow casts its shadow on all corners of this world. Joy can equally do the same; we live in a world where both are present. Some mourn; some rejoice. Sometimes crying and laughter aren’t very far apart.  

Jesus was God in the flesh and as we read in the Gospels there were times when Jesus was full of joy and sorrow. This is reality and God embraces it for what it is. He did not hide when He was experiencing either sensation. This is encouraging; we can also be honest about life too. In our culture, we often want to diminish grief and only focus on happiness. We construct theologies that become magical. We try to bend reality to the will of the one that invokes the “right words”. Yet, after all of the manifesting both sacred and secular that we try, reality is reality. Babies die, people are murdered, wars ravage the earth. We think we can project Eden, but we don’t live there yet. The world is a muddle of both pain and delight.  

I am not proposing that good does not come from prayer and crying out to God, I know from experience that it does, and I believe we should expect the miraculous because that is what God does. However, I am proposing that we should view ourselves in the right light, we are human and not God. We also must view reality in light of Scripture; we still live in a cosmos that are being redeemed. An absence of pain in life is not reality, God does not fail us because this is so, this is just how things are...for now. 

We also carry a hope that this present reality will not stay the same: 

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:1-5 ESV) 

This is the end goal; it always was. God is not worried about the future of the earth; he has it in His hands. Good will totally and irrevocably win. Evil is only a small speck on the timeline. Heaven will come to earth; Eden will bloom again.  

In the meantime, we take up our crosses and follow our King. We “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep”. We embrace reality for what it is, yet we believe God to deliver us from evil. We follow as Jesus’ disciples and His way of life. This way will bring us joy, which is deeper than feeling happy. His ways will bring sunlight into the gloom, and like exercise, it will develop us into the image of Christ. This development will stand the test of time and exhibit the wisdom of God. Paul speaks of this to the Ephesians: 

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7 NLT) 

We will always stand as these redeemed beings from a redeemed world that was once chaos. The work of the Spirit will always be shaping and forming us into this. His grace is medicine to make us whole. 

We can rest in that as we carry our cross, and as all of the pain and sorrow that life inflicts hurts us. We will find a Crucified God who knows an infinite level of grief. He will carry us when we are not able to. He is not worried about the future; all will be well in the end. That is a promise.  

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