My Cross

Then He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it.
(Luke 9:23-24 HCSB ©®)

Following Jesus in my life is not likely to happen on a path that is void of difficulties. It is likely, since He described the process of following Him with the image of taking up a cross, that the better I get at avoiding difficulties, the farther from the path I move.

Problems are not difficult situations. Problems are responses to difficult situations that are not under the influence of the Spirit of Jesus (Galatians 5:22-23).