The Resurrection Is Not the Problem, The Cross Is.
Beloved Friend,
There is something I have come to notice about life. Nobody truly walks a path alone.
In your career, someone sat on that chair before you. Sometimes you are even fortunate to meet them. They tell you what to expect, what almost broke them, what helped them stay. Even if you are the pioneer of something new, it does not end with you. Someone will come after you and walk that same path in their own way.
I remember my time serving in my school fellowship. I was privileged to know two people who had held that same role before me. In a quiet way, they became a cloud of witnesses for me. Not pressure, just awareness. I could not be careless with what had been handed over. They had walked that path, now it was my turn.
Maybe that is why this season feels different to me.
We all love the ending of the story.
The resurrection makes sense to us. It is proof of our faith. It is the part we celebrate without hesitation.
The cross is where things become uncomfortable.
Every year, we are reminded that Christ died, He rose again, and because He defeated death, we also have victory. We rejoice because it means our faith is not empty. It is not a sham. It is real and proven.
That is true.
Yet a question quietly follows that celebration.
What should this resurrection joy translate to in our daily lives?
What do we actually do with this victory we keep declaring?
Cause when you look closely, the resurrection is not confusing. It is the part we accept easily.
The cross is where the tension is.
Christ did not stumble into it. He walked toward it. He knew what it would cost Him. Scripture says that for the joy set before Him, He endured it. That means He saw beyond the pain. He understood the ending. Still, He chose the path.
Then He turns to us and says something that is easy to quote, yet heavy to live: if anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
That was not a metaphor to admire. It was an invitation.
When you look through Scripture, you begin to see that this path has always existed.
Abraham walked it when he lifted the knife over Isaac, trusting God beyond logic.
Moses walked it when he left a life of comfort to stand with a people who were not easy to lead.
David walked it when he was anointed king yet found himself hiding in caves.
Joseph walked it when his dreams led him through betrayal and prison before fulfillment.
None of those moments looked like victory while they were happening. If anything, they looked like detours. Yet today, we call them faith.
If we are honest, this is where it becomes real for us.
We love the idea of resurrection. We love testimonies, and when things finally work out.
What we are not always eager for is the path that leads there.
The obedience when nobody is watching.
The inconvenience that stretches your comfort.
The moments where doing the right thing costs you something real.
The seasons where it feels like you are giving more than you are receiving.
This is where it stops being theory.
This is where it becomes personal.
So I had to ask myself a very honest question this week.
What does it look like for me to walk this path?
Patience walked it by choosing to say yes even when it felt inconvenient. By choosing purpose over comfort. By refusing to shrink back into what felt safe when God was clearly asking for more.
Insert your name there.
Pause for a second and make it real.
What does it look like for you to walk this path in your own life?
It may not look dramatic.
It might look like showing up with integrity at work when compromise is easier.
It might look like being present for people when your natural instinct is to withdraw.
It might look like obedience in something that stretches your personality, your preferences, your comfort zone.
It might look like letting go of control in an area where you would rather stay safe.
That is the cross in real terms.
Not just suffering, but surrender.
Not just pain, but choosing God’s will over your own.
The truth is, nobody claps for those moments. Nobody posts them. Most times, nobody even sees them.
Yet that is where the real walk happens, and the beautiful part is this…
We are not the first to walk this path.
There is a cloud of witnesses. People who have gone ahead. People who stayed. People who chose God when it was not easy. Their lives remind us that this path, as stretching as it is, is not empty.
It leads somewhere, and we already know where.
The resurrection is proof.
Proof that our faith is not a sham. Proof that death is not the end. Proof that surrender is not wasted.
So the joy of resurrection is not just something we feel.
It is something we respond to.
It calls us to live differently. To carry our own cross with understanding.
For the same story we celebrate is the same pattern we have been invited into.
So when your own path feels uncomfortable, when it would be easier to step back, remember this.
You are not walking a strange road.
You are walking a proven path.
The resurrection is not the problem.
The cross is.
With thoughts of kindness,
ABBA’s Shofar