The alarm rings far too early.

You swipe the button to snooze and curl up, hoping to grasp some final piece of restful sleep. But within five, it beeps loud in your ears again, ringing the start of a day you would rather spend in bed.

Now don’t get me wrong, your coffee has brewed in the kitchen just in time for you to snatch a cup and head for the door. It’s not that you despise work, but it’s just that you feel plagued by this monotonous life. You jokingly admit it with fellow co-workers. Five more days and then vacation. Someday you’ll retire to a life of happiness, that is, if social security doesn’t go bankrupt.

All too often, this is the life, the routine, we find ourselves living. It’s not intentional. Years ago, you had hoped to graduate college and start in a field you loved, and somedays, it feels like that perfect world you envisioned. But unfortunately, far too many mornings start off with this same note.

Did you know Jesus had a day like ours?

His day ended with prayerful tears to the Father in the garden.

“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

Here, Jesus spoke of the cross and the ultimate suffering to come. He asked God to spare Him from it. Now, we can’t truly compare any earthly suffering we experience from day to day to that of the cross. But we can come to a place of knowing Jesus has suffered far greater than anything we encounter and that alone should bring us a sense of peace. He walks with us, remember?

Hebrews 12:2-3 says:

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

I love the application of this passage! How could Jesus have joy in enduring the cross?

Well, He knew the cross wasn’t the end. He knew its purpose in God’s ultimate plan.

When you grow weary of the day to day, when you feel isolated and alone, when the world seems at its worst, Hebrews instructs us to consider Jesus. Not only should we carry with us joy in suffering, but we too have a reason to not lose heart.

My dear, sweet friend, today is not the end. We know the full story. You may not see God’s ultimate plan in your life, but know this, it is for His glory that He expects you to live each day. So when the alarm rings and you can barely crawl from bed, this day is not your own. You have a God who has walked ahead of you.

So go ahead, climb out of bed, sip your cup of coffee and open the door. With Him at our side, we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:31-39).