The Will of God and The Way of the Cross

Mark 8:31–33
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

How will I respond when the will of God is the way of the cross?

This is a challenging question for everyone reading this email. What will I do when God allows suffering, struggle, heartache, and heartbreak to enter my path? How will I respond when life gets hard and obedience actually makes it harder?

Jesus is clear over and over again that following Him means denying self, taking up the cross daily, and following (Mark 8:34–36; Luke 9:23–25). Jesus never made it sound easy, and yet all we want is ease. Sure, Jesus will call us to come to Him when we are weary and heavy laden, but that doesn’t excuse us from a journey of obedience that at times includes the valley of the shadow of death.

Today, I want to urge you to simply pray this:

God, help me to be faithful even when life is hard. Help me to trust you even when it is not the path I would choose.
Help me to obey even when obstacles exist.

You can be assured of this: There will be times in your life when the will of God will look like the way of the cross. Hold fast. The God who leads you to the cross is the same God who brings resurrection on the other side.