A Journey of Giving Up

 I’ve been thinking about the concept of a journey of “giving up” a lot lately. Not the giving up on being delivered from cancer through prayer, chemo, rest and good diet (almost dizzying activity for a cancer patient), but the giving up of life as it has been in sharing Jesus and His amazing love and grace out and about. I’m giving up the journey I have been on for the past couple of years in different parts of the world sharing art, faith and story. No more planes for quite a while. There is also the giving up of energy, time (too tired to be on any sort of schedule) and my ability to: make a meal or cup of tea without a huge effort, or jog, or even run to the telephone. My hair is dying, so I know I’ll be giving it up soon. And this Christmas, I’ve had to give up holding my grandchildren (no plane rides) – heartbreaking for this grandmother.

However, God gave me a good perspective this morning through a little devotional. He redirected my thoughts about giving up – to the cross. It’s not trite. It’s actually a big idea. The writer wrote about Jesus’ journey for us. And giving up. He gave up His position in Heaven to come as a little baby, experience life’s losses, hardships and much more, and then he died on a cross – gave up His life. He knows about giving up, so I can talk to Him about it. I know he’ll care, big time. Here is a little from the devotional:

“But the journey for the infant Jesus was much farther than 80 miles. He left His place in heaven at God’s right hand, came to earth, and accepted our humanity. Eventually, He was stretched out on a cross to die, and He was buried in a borrowed tomb. But the journey was not over. He conquered death, left the tomb, walked again among men, and ascended to heaven. Even that is not the journey’s end. Someday He will return as King of kings and Lord of lords.”
(Our Daily Bread, December 18, 2011)

He knows “giving up”, and waiting… to return triumphant. So, today, as more giving up will surely occur; I’m going to ask that Jesus, my Lord and Savior, would encourage and strengthen me in my journey of giving up, and, like the person in the collage above, I’ll keep my eyes on Jesus and look for His triumphant return – in defeating cancer, yes, but even more importantly, in setting ALL things right.