“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.’” Matthew 16:24
We go through seasons in life where we carry far too much. The weight of expectations, past wounds, disappointments, and the burdens of our calling can often feel overwhelming. Yet, if you are called to Kingdom work, your only true requirement is to take up your cross.
Let’s not romanticise this very request. The cross is a place of pain. A place of humiliation. A place where you will stumble under the weight. Even Jesus, the Son of God, stumbled on His way to Golgotha. He was mocked, rejected, and stripped of dignity but it was there, at the place of crucifixion, that the burden was finally lifted.
Why Do We Hold On?
So, here’s the question. If the cross is where our burdens are lifted, why do we resist the process? Why do we hold onto the very things that weigh us down? Are we afraid of who we will be without the struggle? Maybe it’s control. We trust our own strength more than we trust God. Or perhaps it’s a question of identity. We’ve carried our burdens for so long that we don’t know how to live without them.
Yet, Jesus calls us to surrender. To lay everything at His feet. To carry the cross, but not beyond the place of crucifixion.
The cross is something of beauty, a few things happen when we make a conscious decision to pick up our cross, we enter a process of lightening, an intimate exchange.
At the place of crucifixion:
- Your shame is exchanged for His righteousness.
- Your burden is exchanged for His rest.
- Your wounds are exchanged for His healing.
- Your weakness is exchanged for His strength.
In this sense, the weight is not lifted in the carrying; it is lifted in the dying. Just as Christ surrendered His last breath and said, “It is finished,” we, too, must come to that moment of release.
Some burdens are not meant to be carried forever. They are meant to bring us to the place where we let them go.
Surrendering at the Cross
What are you carrying today that Jesus has already called you to lay down?
Is it fear?
Is it control?
Is it the need to prove yourself?
Bring it to the cross. Let it die there. The burden is only heavy when you try to keep it alive. But at the point of surrender, the weight is lifted, and resurrection begins.
Prayer
“Lord, I have carried so much. I have stumbled under the weight of my own expectations, my pain, and my need for control. But today, I bring it to the cross. I surrender what I cannot carry. I trust that in dying to myself, I will find new life in You. Let Your resurrection power lift me beyond this burden. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
