Trading Crosses

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23

It’s shocking to see how jealous Christians can become after God’s blessings finally come across your life… It’s too bad they could not look into your past and see the cross you have been carrying every day for many years… That husband you have stayed married to, that little dinky apartment you had to live in (maybe with rats); that job you stayed with, even though they never gave you a raise; that illness that you shared with very few… No one knows your cross. Yet, when God blesses you, instead of getting happy, they get jealous!

Some missionaries look at me and Bobby and say, “They are rich… They have big projects here in Haiti: a large clinic, a large orphanage, they are building a Birthing Center for the poor, etc.” And yet, some of these are people we bless and “give food to each month!” Where were they when we were preaching on the streets for years, in Cocoa, Florida? Where were they when we preached on street corners in a black housing development in Merritt Island, FL and had to run our “electric cord” through the window of our dear friend, Sister Baber’s place? Where were they, years ago when we traveled to preach with two small children and our junk cars were always breaking down? (Once, we had to “hitchhike” to preach!)… Where were they when everything we had came from Goodwill? Where were they when Bobby had Melanoma cancer and was given six months to live, and we were flat broke, and had no insurance… So the doctor had to do a major operation on him “in his office” with a local anesthetic? Advice to anyone who is jealous of God’s blessings on someone… “Never, never envy or criticize anyone who ‘looks blessed.’ Never think about ‘trading crosses’ … You might get one, that’s ‘much heavier.’” Sherry