Then [Jesus] said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23
“As you say, the thing is to rely only on God. The time will come when you will regard all this misery a small price to pay for having been brought to that dependence. Meanwhile (don’t I know) the trouble is that relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had been done.”
C.S. Lewis in his “Letter to Mrs. Lockley of Magdalen College” dated 12 September 1949, in Letters of C.S. Lewis (Orlando: Harcourt, 1968) 395.
This week I faced a challenge related to my work. When I took the challenge to God in my despair, He reminded afresh to depend on Him. He could carry my burden yet again. The love and compassion (my word for the year) I experienced was from a caring God who reminded me that I could trust Him to help me sort it.
As our faith grows as followers of Christ, our challenges grow as well. It’s in those everyday faith-stretching moments we must “begin all over again.” We must rely on God daily to supply the grace we need in order to continue to live, give, serve, and love generously. We get to deny ourselves daily, take up our cross, and follow Jesus.
Father, thanks for your compassion. May your Holy Spirit help us to trust you with the needs and challenges we face. As daily they seem to be bigger than anything we have experienced, remind us that you are with us and empowering us carry our cross. In your mercy, hear our prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.