Pressure Proves…
Greetings in Jesus name!
This morning I want to share something important and very relevant and that every one of us go through every day and that is PRESSURE. Our lives are full of pressure – pressure from work, pressure from family, pressure from friends, pressure from children, pressure from church, pressure from almost anything and everything.
But what is important is this; pressure brings in blessing and helps us mature in our perspectives of living. Pressure also is the source that will prove our commitment to the Lord, whether we stand firm or compromise. I can recall what happened few months ago in our house we were busy getting ready for work and children getting ready for school, then my wife called me and said, “Marcus can you open the pressure cooker for me,” and I went into the kitchen tried so hard it would not open somehow I gathered all my strength and twisted the handle – it opened with the loud noise. Thank God it did not burst. On the contrary what happened was I could see dhal and tomato all on the ceiling. Under pressure you cannot open the cooker; you have to wait – because you are in a hurry it does not work the way you want it. In a similar manner even in our lives when we go through pressure we act in the same way and mess everything around us. But in all our pressure the Lord wants us to be strengthened in Him and not be in haste to do something on our own.
I want to read to you few scriptures and then draw some lessons for life from one of the heroes of the Bible who gave into his pressure and led a band of people to sin and destruction.
What are the ways in which we get pressure?
- People bring in pressure
- Circumstances bring in pressure
What do we normally do under pressure?
- Compromise
- Impulsive to escape the circumstance
What are the consequences of pressure if we succumb to it?
- We loose on the blessing
- We become a stumbling block
What does the Lord want us to do?
Can we handle the pressure?
Is it so easy to escape pressure without being caught into it?
We are going to find answers to all these questions by exploring the scripture and studying the character of this man called Aaron.
- Aaron was Moses’ older brother Exodus 4:10-17 says that and he was 3 years older than Moses, he was 83.
- Aaron was called by God to help Moses. Exodus 4:27
- Aaron spoke on behalf of Moses and did the signs the Lord had taught them to. Exodus 4:30
- Aaron’s staff swallowed all the snake, God gave him the power. Exodus 7:12
- When Joshua fought the Amalakites Aaron held the hands of Moses along with Hur and they won over the Amalakites. Exodus 17:12
- The Lord called Aaron to come to the mountain. Exodus 19:24
- Aaron to be appointed the priest and the Lord wants Aaron to enjoy the privilege of priesthood and even a special kind of dressing to demarcate him from the rest of the crowd. Exodus 28:2
With all these blessing and privilege what did Aaron do? We read about his actions in Exodus 32, let me point to you few scriptures but would urge you to read the entire text at home for a better understanding.
Exodus 32:1-6
Aaron made the golden calf to be their god: in his pressure he wanted to –
- Please men, he was not sure to handle the pressure since people began asking for Moses, the idiotic people were asking the smart leader to make gods, and he could have explained people that gods are not made and that He made them and led them instead. Aaron asked them for their jewelry, this gives me an impression that Aaron was totally shallow, his personal commitment to God was weak, he merely followed what was told of him to do, this shows his uninvolvement. God made Aaron the spokesperson for Moses because this fellow could speak well if that is the truth he could have spoken to the people and convinced them not to ask for god but to look to the true and living God.
In a similar manner many of us are Christians because we were born in a Christian home and had Christian names but we had nothing to do with God if such is our condition I am sure we will also be like this impulsive in pressure surrendering to do what would please people around and play it safe. Aaron did not want to challenge the people about the truth, he gave into them. Aaron did not stop with that when he knew people were pleased he wanted to popularize the idea of the custom made god. What a shame on Aaron, the very purpose of his life is lost totally shattered.
- Promoted his handy work by building altar and authenticating it. When he knew people calmed down, he wanted to capitalize on them, he built an altar for the god he made and wanted to have a sacrifice on the following day. Now Aaron is playing god because people were willingly listening to him. He did not even think a moment how God miraculously released them from the clutches of the Egyptians; in fact he also performed many miracles God made use of him. Aaron is ungrateful, forgetful, blunt, irresponsible, unreliable, and we can go on and on but he failed since he did not have attachment to God whereas God intended to bless him especially since he was the priest.
Many of us even miss out on God’s plan because we keep doing what is instructed to us by some instructor and once this instructor is out we intend to do what we really want to do. Aaron did everything because Moses wanted him to do and God instructed Moses to do. Moses had lot of initiatives whereas Aaron never had any such thing. He was aloof, on his own trip. God’s plan is the best but for it to come through we have to wait patiently trusting and obeying God, we need to be in touch with God for every move of our life. But rather Aaron was very smart in promoting his ideas, maybe we are like him promoting our ideas and misleading people and not letting them know of Christ.
Exodus 32:22-24
- Preposterous response, when he was questioned about his questionable action he had a very ridiculous answer for Moses, a man who was supposed to hold fort in the absence of the Leader, pleased the people and lost on the purpose of his life. Not only that he led the entire lot to sin and he was authenticating it with his God-given leadership. He did not even feel the pain of committing such a grave blunder and was very casual about the whole thing. There was not even an ounce of regret.
Maybe some of us are like that not bothered about what was entrusted to our care to keep it safe until it is returned to the one who gave it to our care. The same spirit of ridiculousness caught hold of his sons and the Lord detested them.
How do we overcome this Aaron syndrome – we need to be in touch with God constantly and wait for him patiently cause he has plans for us to prosper. Let me bring you three lessons that we can execute in our life.
1. Under pressure Rely on God
2 Corinthians 1:8-9
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
Dear people we also think we are alright but if we do not keep in touch with God we will be enticed by pressure, even though we are Godly, it is not the question of being Godly but it is the question of being God centered – which aptly would fit Moses without God he wouldn’t do anything. Moses for everything relied only on God, he relied on a reliable source and that is why God himself God upset with Aaron and Miriam when they were trying to find fault with Moses.
Numbers 12:7-9
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" 9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.
2. Throughout pressure Be Silent
Jesus is the right example for us even when He was questioned and was under pressure that He prayed the cup be taken away from Him, he did not raise His voice neither show His power but remained silent so God’s plan could be worked for the benefit of others. This revealed His obedience to remain silent even though he had quieted the raging seas and they remained silent at the command of Him, such a great God Jesus remained silent because he decided to obey His Father. We read this in the prophecy of Isaiah
Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
3. Endured Pressure Builds you up
When we remain silent under pressure we only see honor and fame come to us, it only builds us up, under the pressure of the cooker the meat gets cooked well and is made palatable that which was rough when raw so is our lives. Under enduring pressure our lives become refined for the masters use. Let pressure prove your reality.
Exodus 1:12
12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites
In conclusion I want to share a story that I read, here it is -
A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore, and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.
Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, the devil decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man’s weary mind "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn’t budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it." This gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man. "Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I’ll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort and that will be good enough." And that is what he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord.
"Lord" he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"
The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me, with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so?
Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven’t moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done. I, my friend, will now move the rock."
At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him.... By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God who moves the mountains. You just P.U.S.H.!
When everything seems to go wrong,... P.U.S.H.!
When the job gets you down,... P.U.S.H.!
When people don’t react the way you think they should,... P.U.S.H.!
When your money is short and the bills are due,... P.U.S.H.!
When you want to curse them out for whatever the reason,... P.U.S.H.!
When people just don’t understand you,... P.U.S.H.!
P.U.S.H. = Pray Until Something Happens!
