Finding Hope in Suffering With Amy Carmichaelنموونە

The Way of the Cross

Don’t be surprised if you are set at nought.* It is part of the way of the Cross. Mark 9:12 says, “The Son of Man must be set at nought.” If we follow in the way He went, we also must be set at nought. You will find this truer every year as you go on. And anything is easier. Scourging is easier. “He must suffer many things, and” (as if this had to be mentioned very specially) “be set at nought.”

Have you ever gone through your New Testament marking the places where the iron of suffering in one form or another is mentioned? It’s wonderfully enlightening. The book is full of joy, I know, but it is also full of pain, and pain is taken for granted. “Think it not strange. Count it all joy” (1 Pet. 4:12).

We are meant to follow His steps, not avoid them. What if the suffering is caused by those whom we love? Was His not caused by those whom He loved? Oh, what a book the Bible is! If only we steep our souls in its mighty comfort we can’t go far wrong—we shall never lose heart. First Peter 2:21: “For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow His steps.”

You will find the joy of the Lord comes as you go on in the way of the Cross. It was one who had nobody all his own on earth who said, “If I am offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice” (Phil. 2:17 R.V.). It is no small gift of His love, this opportunity to be offered upon the sacrifice and service; something you would not naturally choose, something that asks for more than you would naturally give. That’s the proof of His love. So rejoice! You are giving Him what He asks you to give Him: the chance to show you what He can do.

* To be “set at nought” means to be rejected and/or treated with contempt.