Being Content Hope

To The Cross

We all have times where things just seem “off.” Perhaps there’s no great tragedy to explain our malaise, but whether it be the weariness of a situation that just doesn’t seem to change, cares and concerns for our loved ones, or just a general feeling of discontent, we have moments, days, maybe weeks, where there doesn’t seem to be much to look forward to on the horizon. Our vision is obscured by the heaviness of our hearts.

Recently, I’ve found myself feeling a bit like this. Perhaps it’s the realization that yet another summer is going to an end, and I still didn’t get accomplished all that I wanted to. Perhaps it’s the weight of year and a half that has been marked by loss, sadness, and uncertainty. Perhaps, it’s a combination of factors that I’m not fully aware of, yet whatever the reason, as I look forward, although I know there is hope in my ultimate future, my immediate one didn’t fill me with eager excitement and anticipation. It’s probably best explained by the fact that for a planner like me, when you can’t even see the path from where you are to what you want to be, you’re bound to feel a bit discombobulated.

However, what I realized is that my eyes were focused on the wrong thing. Sure, in my mind I knew that ultimately my hope was in heaven, and so whatever happened on this Earth I did not need to fear, but sometimes Heaven can seem far away. What I didn’t realize, is that as much as I need to look forward to that hope, I also need to look back. I need to position myself at the foot of the cross as a witness to the great sacrifice that my Savior made on my behalf. I need to see how He laid down His right to do what He wanted with His life, and do the same with mine. I need to be encouraged by His total commitment, willing to withstand a cruel and gruesome death instead of rightly enjoying the treasures of Heaven. I need to marvel at His love demonstrated by His blood. I need to see what He saw – the joys of this Earth are rightly sacrificed, and the pain of this Earth are rightly endured, because the resurrection is coming, and there is hope in Him.

At the cross, my future hope meets my present reality – not only in my salvation but in my daily walk with God. It’s the reason why a friend always states that we need to constantly preach the Gospel to ourselves. Not only because we need to daily recognize that we are a sinner saved only by God’s grace, but because we need to daily recognize that focusing on Jesus’ death and resurrection are the proper response to all we face in life. When life is good, we need to look past the fleeting joys of this life, to the permanent joy provided only by Him. When life is difficult, we need to realize that like Christ, our life is not our own, and offer our difficulties and our troubles to be used by God.

At the cross that we realize the futility of dwelling on the cares of this world – the good and the bad – and we,  like Jesus did, eagerly look forward to what His death and resurrection accomplished – an eternity with our risen Lord.

 

 

For a great song which partly inspired this post, check out Hillsong’s Lead Me To the Cross [affiliate link].

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Being Content Hope

Burdened

It seems that every year as children head back to school that there is at least one news story about the weight of their backpacks. Blame it on the scarcity of lockers, the thickness of textbooks, the amount of homework teachers assign, or students’ unwillingness to complete their work within class time, but there is some reason children are carrying more weight on their backs then medical professionals deem healthy. The concern, of course, is not only for the problems this will engender now, but for the lifelong implications of burdening their growing bodies with weight that they can’t yet handle.

Sometimes it can feel like we are carrying our own backpack full of burdens around. And yet, listening to some, it seems as if Christians should be exempt from such inconveniences. “Come to Jesus and you’re life will get better” they say. And while they are right, in a sense, it doesn’t mean that our problems will go away. In fact, Jesus has promised just the opposite. He tells His followers that they will have problems. Just as He was persecuted, so those who bear His name will be as well.

The difference, then,  isn’t that Christians don’t have burdens; it’s that the burdens they carry are different. After all, Jesus didn’t say, “Come to me and I will take all the burdens away.” Instead, He said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30; emphasis mine). The burden that Christians carry is the one that Jesus gives to us. Instead of carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders, we know the One who holds the world is His hands. Because He is bearing that weight, the yoke He places on us is light.

Think of it this way – we know the One who controls the stars and the seasons, as well as the One who has cares about every sparrow that falls. Therefore, we don’t need to worry about trying to control and manipulate our lives to get what we want – a heavy burden that is impossible to bear. When a loved one is sick, we know that One that can heal, and even if He chooses not to do so, we can trust His loving provision. When we grieve, we do not do so as those who are without hope, because we know the One through Who there is eternal life. We still grieve, we still get sick, and we still have situations we can’t control, but the burden is lighter, because the heaviest part of the burden – the finality of death, the inability to heal, and the lack of control – all find their answer in Christ. He bears the heavy load that that we were not created to own.

For the near future, it seems that school children will still have heavy books that they need to carry. And until Jesus calls us Home, we will have some burdens that we need to bear as well. However, the Christian can trust that the burden they are called to carry is the one Jesus gives us, and that even under it, He has already promised that He will provide “rest for [our] souls.”

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