"And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, 'If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.'" - Mark 8:34-35
Many things came to mind and I jotted - well, typed - them on my list:
- The state of our society - overwhelming greed, disrespect of life, persecution of the faith, etc.
- Stresses of the workplace
- Worries of the uncertain future (I'm a worse-case-scenario type of girl)
- Family concerns
At first, I went on the defensive. I actually pushed the voice aside, telling myself that I must have made it up.
But then I heard again, "Amy, you are your own cross."
I thought, "Wait, Lord. Are You telling me that my greatest trouble in life is myself? That's crazy! What about my list?!"
But He said, "Amy, these things are not yours to solve. Let Me take care of those. Take up your cross. Follow me."
And then I understood. I thought of what I tell my students every day: Don't worry about what that other person is doing. Your job is to focus on yourself, and that's a big enough responsibility for one person.
The list that I had created were full of someone else's problems, not my own. So often, we convince ourselves that we have to take on the world in order to grow closer to Christ. But Jesus doesn't need us to be miracle workers. That's His job, not ours. He only wants us to come to Him as the broken children we are.
Take up your cross. Bring it to Christ. And give it up to Him.
And isn't that a big enough job itself?