Worth the Weight

Diamonds in the Dust. J.E. Tada

Is it worth taking up your cross, losing your life, and following the Lord?

Often times, I have noticed in my own and others' lives, we would rather not carry our cross. We fully intend to believe in and follow God...but without the rough, heavy, wooden weight of our cross. We, understandably, want life to be easy.
It is not until we have hit rock bottom---or nearly rock bottom---that we go back and pick up our dropped cross. We see then that leaving our cross on the ground is much more devastating to our existence than carrying it, we pick it up with somewhat less resentment.
We are expected to carry crosses alone, yet I would say it is not possible to carry one's cross alone. It was, after all, asked of a man to carry Jesus' cross. We should depend on God foremost to have His strength to assist us in carrying our struggles, but we should further depend on others for their experiences. No one's cross is exactly like someone else's...but we can still learn and use compassion, understanding, empathy and full support in the battles of life. 
We are not losing our lives to follow God...because before that we are already dead. We are alive because we follow God. It is so worthwhile to lean upon the grace of God and feel His loving presence. Without that, all is lost.