Look at our lives—the problems, the pains—and it’s easy to conclude that we are losing. Look at the world—the brokenness, the bedlam—and it’s easy to believe that the devil is winning. It all can lead us to despair. Yet this turmoil is exactly what God said would happen already in the Garden. There God declared that until the end of time enmity would prevail between the devil and mankind. But God promised more than that. He promised that from humanity would rise one who would completely defeat the devil.
We need a top-down faith to understand that things are definitely not what they seem. Yes, the devil and his allies are constantly doing their worst. Their work always brings pain. Yet, ultimately, Jesus always wins. And his victory is our victory. Jesus’ victory is so complete that even when Satan continues to cause chaos, Christ uses it to reveal his glory and grace to those gifted with top-down faith.

Why bother? We carry our crosses in gratitude for Jesus carrying his cross, one too heavy for us to bear because it was weighted down with our sin. We carry our crosses because we know that in those moments of struggle, we are forced to turn to Christ and rely on his strength. The church takes up its crosses, because this is the Christian path, the one Jesus himself walked: first the cross, then the crown.