The cross was enough

Personal Photo: This was from the trip in Berlin. It is hard to believe that it was so long ago already, but we had such a fun time antiquing, enjoying the homemade food, and finding the blessings tucked in this little Amish town. I had picked up some trinkets, and found this Max Lucado devotional in a shop here. Remembering that we are accompanied on our walk of life with the Savior of the world can be so peaceful, so freeing.

When Clay and I first began dating, almost six years ago now (already!), at the beginning of college, we tried to go to a new place every year we were together for a short weekend trip. We would pick a small town in Michigan or Ohio and book a hotel for a weekend, check out the farmer's markets, go see the sites, and eat the food in the area. We snuck in two years of this tradition before COVID hit and halted our progress for a couple years, but I wouldn't trade the unique memories that came from each place we went. Our first year, we went to northern Michigan, and the second year we went to Berlin, Ohio, to Amish Country.

While we were in Berlin, the trip revolved around shopping and eating, while taking in the beautiful rolling hills as we went. In the middle of the local grocery store there was a cute little shop that had Christian gifts. After filling a basket with homemade jams, breads, and popcorn, I had such a joyful time walking around the displays, picking out gifts for my family and little souvenirs for the trip. One thing that caught my eye while we were there, that I instantly picked up, was a little wooden sign that said 'The cross was enough.' I instantly fell in love with the short, simple reminder of the perfect gift of salvation, and I want to explore how powerful this message is during this article.

The truth is that I was pushed to my limit this week. I ended up in tears, frustrated over things I could not control. Because I encountered the significant impact of unkindness, I struggled to find a way to take the experiences I had from this week and turn it into power. I found the answer resting in the memory of that little Christian shop in Berlin's local grocery store. 'The cross was enough.' It got my wheels turning that maybe someone else could find the phrase as inspiring as I do. I find that most of us tend to overthink, tend to overanalyze, and tend to second guess our behavior. We can end up in situations where people are not friendly, shut us down, and try to belittle us. We can end up uninvited, unwelcome, and targeted for a reason unknown to us. Furthermore, many of us live with regrets, embarrassment that we want to hide from, and memories that we wish we could rewrite. We make mistakes, find our best intentions being twisted, and all of a sudden we are backed in a corner, wondering how to proceed. As humans, we are bound to make mistakes, and it is fair to say that most of us, from time to time, can become completely and utterly overwhelmed with the inevitable flaws that we have, the inability to protect ourselves and our loved ones from the unnecessary bullying from the world, and the lack of control over we seem to have in situations of frustration and confusion. This is why I love the phrase: The cross was enough.

The saying is entirely encompassing. It addresses our flaws, our overthinking, the interactions we have with others, our behavior, our faith, and so much more. It brings our eyes completely to the cross, to Jesus, to His incredibly amazing gift of salvation from our own sinful downfall. 1 Peter 2:24 states "and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." When we look at the entire journey of Christ, all of it leads to the cross. Everything Jesus does, He does in preparation for the gift of salvation. This verse from Peter brings us to the reason why the cross was enough. We might be sinful creatures, but because of His hanging on the cross, we have the ability to cling to God's grace and be with Him forever. We are healed because of Jesus on the cross. We can live because of Jesus on the cross. We can have hope, believe in the perfect love of God, and shed the heavy coat of damnation, all because of Jesus on the cross.

So, when we consider what it means when we read 'the cross was enough,' we can remember that God has already given us the gift of salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." It is entirely a gift. God did not owe us, He did not need to save us, but instead He sent His beloved Son because He loves us. And we do not need to do anything more than believe in this gift. The cross was enough to save us, enough to heal us, enough to inspire us, enough to protect us, enough to forgive us. We might encounter regrets on our journeys, might go through trying times of faith, we might be angry, sad, or feel as though we do not belong, but it does not change the fact that the cross was enough for us. We don't need God to do anything else for us, we don't need any other source of joy, and there is nothing stronger to protect us from ourselves and from the world. Jesus on the cross was enough.

When we find ourselves struggling with regret, failure, sin, and the unacceptance from others, we can cling to the cross. We can seek His righteousness in order to turn the toxic obsession of sin and overthinking into power in the belief that the cross was enough. Psalm 37:39 tells us that "The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their stronghold in the time of trouble." When we are in trouble, when we are under attack from the world, we can remember the truth of the cross, the gift of forgiveness, and where we can go to find peace and safety. This Psalm verse clearly tells us that the Lord is our stronghold, meaning that when we fail, when we are weak, when we are struggling, we have a Savior that loves us and cares for us.

When we think of how to turn the valleys in our lives into moments of growth and power, we can remember that the debt we owe, the mistakes we make, the sins we repent over are already paid for, already forgiven. As soon as we recognize this, we can adjust our perspective from frustration and belittlement to the peace and freedom that comes with the payment on the cross. John 16:33 tells us that "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." This verse is the heart of my message. Jesus is directly addressing what we so easily overlook when we become frustrated and weary from the world trying to whittle us away. He is telling us that even though we have struggles, even though people will try to attack us, even though we make mistakes, the cross is enough to overcome every bit of regret, unacceptance, and frustration. Jesus will replace our hurt with love, our regrets with freedom, our frustration with joy, and our turbulence with peace. All we have to do is remember that the power all rests in Him, not in this world.

The innocent sacrifice of Jesus was enough to save us, heal us, accept us, and forgive us. Because of this knowledge, we do not have to stress over the little details that we get caught up on. These moments in life are chances for us to relax and remember that the world and the shackles of sin have no control over us, no power over us. Rather, Jesus has already saved us, and we have already won all of the battles that we are currently fighting. The cross was enough!