Outward Pressure and Inward Pleasure
Cross bearing is an indispensable part of a Christian’s life (Luke 9:23), so that work of molding a person into a Christ-like image which begins at the point of re-generation is completed in all respects (2 Cor 3:18) by the time of Rapture or one’s departure from the Earthly scene.
What is a cross if it is not something “bothersome” which is “touching” my shoulders? Hey, I cannot say that I am bearing the Cross, if it is say a mile away!!! Remember for a Cross (synonymous with pain) to be carried, it necessarily has to be in touch with your being. There lies the key to understanding what Cross-bearing is all about. The surrounding “unavoidable” irksome circumstances, which one cannot get away from…in the place of education/employment/business or pain within the confines of relationships such as a marriage, parenthood, lure of Worldly attractions’ all around or an infirmity in one’s own body… all constitute a cross. Hallelujah, our God is not unfair in calling us to bear the Cross alone without placing the bubbling joy of the Holy Spirit at the same time within us, giving us the needed impetus, so to say, in our Christian sojourn!!! It is in this rarefied “spiritual atmospheric” balance of Inward Pleasure (joy inside)-Outward Pressure (pain outside) that a Christian’s character gets built.
Ah speaking of atmosphere …gear up to bare your chest for bearing this “punch of truth”. Even as you are reading this message, do you know that your body is soaking up a close to 7 kgs’ per square inch of atmospheric pressure right now? So why doesn’t your body implode? It would, if not for a wondrous internal “blood pressure” from within that is balancing the External “Air” pressure all the time. Well, well…God in His infinite wisdom who knew that nearly 5 quadrillion tones of air is needed to sustain all of life on earth, also knew that the same life-giving air without being “balanced” by blood pressure from within the living body, can kill it. Boy air-pressure and blood-pressure… one cannot live without the other, because conversely if the air-pressure is withdrawn, the human body would “rupture”, meaning life-sustaining blood (Lev 17:11) would at once ooze out. No wonder, astronauts wear a spacesuit which besides ensuring continuous oxygen supply also ensures that the same atmospheric pressure is exerted constantly on all of the astronaut’s body (which is so used to it) even in space where there is no air otherwise blood would simply “burst out” of his/hers veins and arteries.
So for Christians’ asking for “Cross” to be withdrawn is a very grievous sin, for it would mean we are asking for the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit also (life-blood of the Spiritual life).
So aim for rarified spiritual heights Dear Christian...with Outward Pressure and Inward Pleasure working coherently in your life...