Beyond The Cross

"...You were never meant to carry this beyond the cross…"

- Dear Younger Me, MercyMe

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"He Himself bore our sins" in His body on the cross,

So that we might die to sins and live for righteousness;

"By His wounds you have been healed."

-1 Peter 2:24

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One of the aspects of grief that I haven't talked about yet, is the desire and overwhelming need to fix my grief, and the grief of those around me. Society doesn't know what to do with someone when they're grieving, and the natural response is to say: "Snap out of it!", or give off a general impression of impatience. For the person in grief, this adds pressure, fueling the need to "fix" the issue ourselves and get back to "normal" life. 

We live under the assumption that we have any control over it at all, and we burden ourselves with guilt: "Why am I still sad?", "Why do I still feel so withdrawn?", "Why can't I get passed the pain?"...and so the questioning goes, and our guilt piles higher. 

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I've been thinking about this problem, and the weight it brings, and trying to filter it through scripture. Jesus doesn't want me to carry this burden of needing to be fixed, or the guilt from not being fixed soon enough, Jesus wants me to let Him carry me, and let Him heal me. 

Beyond that, I want to propose that it's even wrong to assume that we can control our grief, because we are not capable of bringing healing to anything, only God can do that. I think we begin to cross over into God's territory when we try to do things ourselves, instead of relying on Jesus to bring about our healing. 

MercyMe is one of my favorite contemporary Christian artists, their music is emotionally honest, relevant, and inspiring, and I love how their songs tell real stories. Their latest song was written from the context of growing up in an abusive home, overcoming that past, and allowing God's redeeming love to transform. In one of the last lines of the song, the lead singer says: "You were never meant to carry this beyond the cross", and it really struck me... 

The cross of Jesus was necessary so that all of our burdens and sins could be healed. Everything comes together at the cross, God's great design to reconcile His people to Himself. Our burdens and sins needed a place to be washed clean, a place to be forgiven, a place to be purchased. Jesus went willingly to pay that debt for us, and He also went so that we would no longer have to carry the pain of life on our own. He became our Savior God, our Messiah, our redeemer, because there was no way for us to save ourselves. 

…I was never meant to carry my burden of grief beyond the cross…

Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice, giving us His very life, so that we don't have to live under the burden of sin, sadness, regret, shame, unworthiness, unholiness, depression, or grief. His design was perfect, completing our redemption, and nothing is needed beyond the cross. We are healed by His wounds, healed completely, once and for all. 

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In light of this understanding, and applying it to my grief, I'm able to see that I really have no control at all, and no need to pressure myself, or those around me, into a place of "healing" that society will accept. 

God's design for His people was for us to leave everything at the cross, and let Him heal us. It was never part of His plan for us to lay our burdens down, and then take them back up and try to fix them ourselves. The cross of Jesus is final and complete, and we were never meant to carry our burden beyond calvary. 

The cross of Jesus is all we need to heal every sin and every scar, every broken heart and every sadness. God's plan for mankind was made perfect there at the cross, and we are free to lay our pains down there, with the promise that He will heal us, and that His healing will be complete.