“Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.”
Luke 14:28-30 (NAB)
Twice in one day, within two hours, a person in line ahead of me canceled and backed out of a transaction. The first time was at a grocery store, when the couple in line ahead of me, gasped at the price of Bing cherries, which were $11.00/lb. They canceled their transaction and walked out, and I didn’t blame them.
After that, I went to a drive thru car wash, and while waiting in line, the car in front of me drove partially into the wash but then stopped short of advancing forward enough to trigger the wash to start. After waiting a minute, I walked to the car to see why it stopped, and the young woman driver thought the car wash wasn’t working. I suggested that she drive forward, enough for the wash to start.
The attendant came out and told her the same thing, but she wanted to cancel the wash and get her refund.
I suspected she was embarrassed in holding up the line, because of a misunderstanding of how to drive through a car wash.
It seemed strange that twice within a short span of time, I encountered people who canceled a transaction for one reason or another. There could be a message in those two incidents, with the theme of the day being “counting the cost.”
Whether it was counting the high cost of Bing cherries or the half hearted decision to proceed through an unfamiliar car wash, each person re-considered, canceled their transaction and left.
Jesus once counted the cost of what was required to become our Savior. He first counted it from heaven before willingly entering this world as a man. He counted the cost one last time, in those stressful, but defining moments in the Gethsemane garden. He felt fear and every emotion that a human being can feel, and asked His Father if He could possibly pass on the whole thing. He counted the cost, but in the end, He consented.
It was in the Garden where Jesus decided that each one of us were worth the high price He paid for our redemption. He chose to proceed, not cancel, change His mind, or walk away, but rather to finish the work at the cross, by putting His whole heart into it. Because He loved us, He considered us worth it, for Him to proceed in carrying His cross.
God desires to conform everyone who believes, into the image of His son, and Jesus longs to make us His disciples. As we count the cost of discipleship, we realize that we all have a cross of some kind to carry.
(Romans 8:29)
Jesus said, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Those are clear and straightforward words. Carrying our cross comes after counting the cost, just as Jesus did in that Garden. Mary, His mother, also counted the cost of becoming the mother of the Messiah who would suffer in a harsh world, but she too, said yes.
In reality, we are living in a fallen world. We don’t soar through life with a “name it, claim it, instantly gratifying, problem free faith or lifestyle.” Painful trials happen to believers and unbelievers alike, but as believers, we get to know our Savior, and develop a friendship with Him. Through faith, we come to learn that something good always comes out of our pain.
Nothing that we have ever suffered is wasted. In all suffering, there is meaning and comfort in knowing Jesus already suffered the same thing and knows exactly how we feel. We also find purpose in suffering by being able to comfort others who go through something similar. The Lord’s church is a community of His sons and daughters, who share the compassion of Christ with each other and with the world.
We may never fully understand every purpose in this present lifetime, but we know that God is constantly conforming us to the image of Christ. We might be better off to ask, “Lord, reveal your purpose for me through this trial,” instead of “Lord, remove this problem from me,” so that we can find peace in the purpose.
While we go through any pain or sorrow, we count the cost, as we choose to take up our cross and follow Jesus another day. Knowing He has the best plan for us, we carry our cross and follow Him, because that’s what disciples do.
It’s a lesson we’ll be learning all throughout our lives, and at times, my soul needs to catch up with the words I write, but we can put our trust in this scriptural truth,
“We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
(Romans 8:28)
Lord, we thank you for counting us worthy of the cost you paid for our salvation, and help us to carry our own cross, while we are being conformed to your image, to better reflect your love to the world. Amen
