Lord, do I know You as my stumbling stone or my building stone? If I am not properly related to You, I will surely stumble over You, as Peter did (Matthew 26:31). How often You have been offensive to me, Lord, when I wanted my own way. You offended me when I wanted to choose certain friends, or other things that the flesh craved, and You would not allow it.
There is only one place for the foundation stone, or the cornerstone. If it is not in its proper place, I will only stumble over it repeatedly. I find that when I do not put You in Your proper place, the result is pain.
Your cross, Lord, is often offensive to me, just as it was to Peter. I often crave a “glory” religion, a religion of feeling, fame, joy, and happiness. I do not like a “cross” religion, the drudgery and misery of dealing with people deep in their sins and failures. I do not like saying no to myself, I do not like being put on the cross. Peter wanted a kingdom and position and power. So do I. He could not bear to see it all go down the drain via the cross. How often he hurt himself stumbling over You!
Yet I read, “Who for the joy … before Him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus found joy in that miserable cross, while I shun it. Not only that, but via the cross He found victory, sitting at God’s right hand. God will not deny me victory or power (He desires that for me), but He says I will get these things only by enduring the cross. So if I keep bumping up against God, something is wrong with me. If my feet are bruised it is because I am rebelling, not submitting. But if I submit, the joy of the cross will see me through many a dark day. This joy is not the cross itself, but its aftermath, for God always deals with ends—final realities—not routes to them. I look for God’s end, my “posterity” (Psalm 37:37), through my cross today.
“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38).
Daily with the King 