Clinging onto the Cross

What does it mean to cling onto the cross of Jesus? Does it just mean to leave all our struggles and worries at the foot of the Cross or do we have to literally cling onto the cross of Jesus in times of struggle?

As Jesus himself says it in the bible, “If you remain in me, then I will remain in you.”





Since my recent increasing desire for prayer, I have been facing quite a few fears and struggles. Firstly, the fears I’ve been facing have been like fears of whether I will be able to constantly be in the state of prayer and still have conviction in God. The main fear has basically been whether my faith will be alive. I was so afraid of being the ordinary catholic praying fervently and not being alive & joyful in faith. But every time, I talk to God about this fear, he always reassures me that he knows what I need to be sustained in my prayer life and ensured that he’ll provide for me. Another fear has been whether I’ll be able to leave everything and start this new life of prayer. I guess it’s the title of ‘living a life of prayer’ which really started to scare me quite a bit, then God just kept reminding me about how simple he has put praying to him is for me and that I should start making my own way of this life of prayer and not try to forced into this life of prayer.

Now, in terms of struggles, I’ve been really struggling through these past 2 days of trials that I’ve been facing. I guess, I’m not used to going through trials for a whole and what more 2 whole days. It kind of shows how dependent I am on the grace of God to get me through these trials and tribulations. As I continued to think about this, I realized how much conviction I had in God but not much faith & trust in God when it came to facing trials in my spiritual journey. Maybe this is the result of living very comfortably in the presence of God. I guess I keep forgetting that you will still face trial & tribulations despite your answer to the Call of God. In some sense, I’m just very used to being happy everyday and when suddenly I face some difficult situation especially in my journey with God, I start t lose faith & trust in God and start to doubt whether God is really there.

But in all of this, after spending quiet time with God in the adoration room earlier, God revealed to me that it was a transition period into another level of my spiritual journey for me. As he revealed that to me, I started to see how God was still active in my life even as I started to doubt his presence. For those who have got the latest August issue of the ‘Word among us’, the theme for this issue was about faith. It talks about how much faith we have in God and then what faith does for us. So actually God was working still in me but I was blinded by my worries about his absence. Its kind of funny also when you think about it. Haha!

Anyway, I have truly learnt what it means to cling onto the Cross of Jesus. It means that although at that point in time, it may seem as the most ridiculous thing to be trusting in God but when we speak to God, we will be feeling a sense of growth in ourselves that we still trusted in God despite the evil one trying to mess with and disrupt our close & loving relationship with God! So praise God for the gift of faith as it allows us to grow in Christ!