In the process of bearing your cross, always remember that the resurrection follows the cross. It was true for Him. It will be true for you. See your dark times through the lens of the resurrection. It is paradoxically possible to experience your cross and the power of the resurrection at the same time. I can testify that it is so. In our world death follows life. In God’s world resurrection follows death. We should cling to resurrection hope in the midst of our crosses. Our present dying does not have the last word; resurrection does.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” 1 Peter 1:3-6 (NIV)
