Your Personal Cross and Choice

Can you chose your personal cross?

The personal cross that feels like such a burden to carry?

It’s the one you sigh and pick up, walking through life feeling unending heartaches and pains.

The term “carrying your cross” comes from Jesus hauling his up the Via Dolorosa to Calvary’s hill.

Okay, mine obviously aren’t that bad, but some days it just feels so heavy.

Where does the idea of a personal cross to bear come from?

Some are familiar with an old poem written by the famous Anonymous.

It’s called a Changed Cross

Lettie Cowman talked about the concept in her August 29 reading from Streams in the Desert.

Why can’t we choose our own cross?

Here are a series of excerpts from the poem (with my commentary). The entirety is here.

It was a time of sadness, and my heart,
Although it knew and loved the better part,
Felt wearied with the conflict and the strife,
And all the needful discipline of life.

The thought arose ‑‑ My cross I cannot bear:
Far heavier its weight must surely be
Than those of others which I daily see.
Oh! if I might another burden chose.

We think we know best what challenges we need to carry.

But do we really?

What if we could choose our personal cross?

How would you select the “better one?”

Does Jesus give us a choice of our personal cross?

As I used to tell my kids, “you always have a choice.”

But do we really want to be responsible for the outcome?

Back to the poem.

Then One,
Came gently to me as I trembling lay,
And, “Follow me!” He said; “I am the Way.”

He led me far above,
And there, beneath a canopy of love,
Crosses of divers shape and size were seen,
Larger and smaller than my own had been.

And one there was,

A little one, with jewels set in gold.
Ah! this, methought, I can with comfort wear,
For it will be an easy one to bear:
And so the little cross I quickly took;
But, all at once, my frame beneath it shook.

Jesus merely bids us follow Him. He doesn’t often tell us where we’re going or what we’ll have to overcome.

Do you suppose that’s because He knows our weaknesses, and thus knows we might chose to do something hard?

Maybe we’re not so good at choosing our troubles?

The sparkling jewels fair were they to see,
But far too heavy was their weight for me.
I cried, and looked again,
To see if there was any here could ease my pain,
on a lovely one I cast my eye.

But oh! that form so beautiful to see
Soon made its hidden sorrows known to me;
Thorns lay beneath those flowers and colors fair!

Sorrowing, I said: “This cross I may not bear.”
And so it was with each and all around
‑Not one to suit my need could be found;

At length, to Him I raised my saddened heart:
He knew its sorrows, bid its doubt depart.
“Be not afraid,” He said, “but trust in me –
My perfect love shall now be shown to thee.”

Ah, there’s the rub.

Do we really trust Jesus to know which personal cross we can best carry?

How to choose?

Listening to hear, and ready to obey –
A cross quickly found of plainest form,

With only words of love inscribed thereon.
With thankfulness I joyfully acknowledged it the best –
The only one of all the many there
I could feel was good for me to bear.

And, as I bent, my burden to sustain,
I recognized my old cross again.

And so, whate’er His love sees good to send,
I’ll trust it’s best, because He knows the end.

Too many times in my life I’ve encountered a hardship I simply do not want to go through.

Some of them are physically painful, others emotional unnerving.

But I try to resolve my hesitancy by remembering God loves me and will never leave me nor forsake me.

And just because I can’t see something, doesn’t mean God isn’t at work to bring good from completion.

He, alone, knows what I best can bear.

Can a personal cross really be a blessing?

It all sort of depends on your point of view, doesn’t it?

Do we really want to choose our life, thinking we know what will bring us the most happiness?

Or, would we rather ask the One who knows our beginning to our end?

He’s the One who created us to be the person we are with our gifts, talents and abilities in this time and place.

Who can best choose a life that will fill us in every way–no matter the difficulties?

What if the challenges ARE the life and those same difficulties make us into better people?

How can we choose?

And what if our personal cross, the pain and trouble, really ends up being the source of joy?

Tweetables

The advantages–or not–of choosing our personal cross. Click to Tweet

Who best can decide the real joy and contentment for our lives? Click to Tweet

Streams in the Desert continued the theme on September 14, as well.