Pressure Produces

What kind of pressures have you been facing lately?  What has it been producing in your life?  The longer I walk with Jesus the more I am convinced that there are some blessings that can only come as a result of intense pressure.  God puts us in the pressure cooker not to drive us into the ashes of defeat, but to demonstrate His radical and disruptive grace in our lives.  In 2 Corinthians 12:9 we read, But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

God’s grace is most magnified when we are navigating the waters in the storms of life.  It all comes down to trusting God…even when we cannot trace Him.  Whether pressures in our…singleness – friendships – marriage – parenting – school – work – church service…we all face them and we are responsible to deal with them in a way that glorifies our God.  When we do, we can be certain that the pressures we are facing are producing fruit that will last.  James tells us that “pressure produces perseverance” (James 1:3).  Hammered out on the anvil of pressure, God is honing, shaping, and molding His adopted children into the likeness of His precious Son.  What more could we ask for. 

When you squeeze an orange you get orange juice.  When you squeeze a tomato you get tomato juice.  What do those around you get when you are squeezed by the pressures of life?  God’s commitment to you, demonstrated on the cross, makes it clear that pressure is merely a passageway into producing deeper fellowship with the Prince of Peace.  NEVER FORGET THAT…AMEN!