Pressure
By F. Martin
While driving to work I was singing as always along with a gospel track. It gets me into the place of worship that I cannot get to on my own. I am effectively my own worship leader, in my own mobile church. I am the deacon, pastor, teacher, parishioner and backslider! All rolled up into one.
It is a way to show appreciation to a God who has ushered me into a place of peace that I cannot begin to explain. If you are reading this you must have experienced the peace of God at one point in your life. Even if you do not serve God at this point in your life, more than likely you have acknowledged His presence in your life, family, city, or world. The bible tells us that He is everywhere and involved in every thing having to do with our lives. A non-believer may ask, “Is He jacking my life up too and is He in control of that”. Well yes He is. As believers we know that,
Romans 8:28 (KJV) 28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
So God is in control of the things that hurt and help. God even admits it regularly throughout His word. He makes sure that we understand that He commands all that goes on. Sometimes it is allowance, other times it is preference. So can we really say that God allows pressure? Yes, of course he does. It is utilized by God to create power and majesty in those things that possess neither quality. Let’s examine Godly pressure in three different aspects. Creation of mountain ranges occurs through earthquakes, erosion, and volcanoes.
Let’s examine earthquakes first. We marvel constantly at the mountain ranges surrounding us, and others around the world with wonder. These mountains occur in various forms of pressure. The tallest mountains occur when tectonic plates moving at only centimeters per year, move towards one another and leave no room in between. This extremely slow collision causes the rocks to go upward. This is the process of the genesis of mountain ranges. These collisions are often times massive earthquakes, or pressure. This pressure we find to be positive and majestic as long as we are far from the genesis of them. This is also true with today’s Christian. We marvel at the platform speakers, classroom teachers, and men’s group leaders. We see ourselves in their position and we sometimes criticize them for not doing the job that we could do. Yet we do not want to be involved with the shifting of the Christian tectonic plates! We want to come in after the spiritual earthquakes are over and marvel at the majesty and power, wishing to be seated in the same place with half the work done. Christians face the same types of pressures it took to frame the planet. It is simply directed at us for perfecting sake. Not many of us relish the thought of going through the Earthquake pressure method. That takes a steely resolve and a strong faith. We do not want the burden of dealing with the shaking up (quake) of our comfort zone. We often detest the small tremors as well. We find it difficult to ride out the quake and more difficult to believe the aftermath will benefit us. So what of this thing called pressure? Does God utilize it for His children as He did for His Earth?
pressure
a : the burden of physical or mental distress b : the constraint of circumstance : the weight of social or economic imposition
2 : the application of force to something by something else in direct contact with it :the action of a force against an opposing force b : the force or thrust exerted over a surface divided by its area.
God created a perfect atmospheric pressure on earth in the beginning. Why do we know that? The bible lets us know that men lived to be hundreds of years old. This could only occur if the atmosphere did not interfere with our living conditions as it does now. We are now experiencing the intensity of the sun and many free radicals that age us in a more rapid fashion. Prior to the flood, saturation of the earth rose up, and did not come down. God used the sky in a more protective way than is used now. Prior to Noah, there was no rain and the sky was a protective cover that yielded long life to earth’s inhabitants. God more than likely covered the earth protectively for the sole purpose of long life for the man He created. No where does it say that a cow lived to be 400 years old! God created this perfect atmosphere to accommodate a perfect creation in man. Imagine if you will the physically perfect human form of Adam. Without one iota of imperfect consumption in the Garden of Perfection, God walked with His creation and spoke with Him. Coupled with the wisdom of God, and the lack of impurities on the perfect planet, Adam must have been a sight to behold. Now this next text will appeal to those with children. I taught all my children to walk, by simply reducing the amount of time carrying them. God is the same way in which He looks to extract the best from each and every one of us through test and trials. The education system follows the system of Kingdom principles through tests. These tests validate the mastery of a chosen subject. Such is the case with God as He tests our mastery of His will.
Pressure is for the purpose of bringing us closer to the Lord for the sake of producing power. Let us utilize pressure in our every day life to turn it into power. So that we can progress further spiritually. A powerful believer does not have any more power beyond the others, he simply knows how and is determined to utilize the pressure that has been placed upon him.
This is an excerpt from a believer that rings so true. God knows that the power of life stems from the pressure of life. We have examined this carefully through the framing of the world. Pressure arrived to facilitate creation. Creationists will have you believe that there is a level of happenstance surrounding creation. Truth is, extrapolating theories in an effort to explain the Genesis of man and earth, is only a ploy to deny the power and majesty of the Most High God. We have pressure as Christians from the moment we accept Christ. The avoidance of sin is more than likely the greatest pressure. Yet the avoidance of truth seems to be gaining ground. We look to determine the mind of God to assist in condemning our fellow man. How many men have been shot, lynched, stabbed, crucified, boiled and murdered in the name of God? This could only be through deception. Do we place blame on the perfection of Christ, or the man/woman acting out the imperfect behavior?
While watching the movie Hotel Rwanda, I realized the enemy has tricked so many into believing that the origin of atrocity lies in the lap of the deceiver. For example, one could blame Belgium authorities for dividing and controlling the thought process of a generation of Rwandans. Yet can one blame the Belgians for the murder of children through mental deception 40 years later? Can we truly blame some other person beyond the one who pulls the trigger, swings the machete, wields the bat against a people that look and speak as they do? Let’s move onto the Christian Rwandan. If I attend a church that does not biblically follow the word of God, and then I teach my children the untruth, is that not killing or the attempt murder on the young spirit I am a steward of? Racism is not true, it’s inherited. It is hand me down hatred. As a reader you know there is no truth to it, so then how does it flourish? Lies must be nourished and constantly fed, truth can fast for centuries. No lie can live forever; the truth is immortal and never ceasing. The reason for this is that God in the persona of Christ is the truth.
John 14:6 (KJV) 6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
When we go to church, do we face opposition from those who may believe you are less spiritual, faithful, truthful, and merciful than they are? Of course we do. The reason being the church incorporates an element of life that the entire world incorporates. THERE ARE PEOPLE THERE! Yet this is a subtle pressure the Lord uses to test us and try our faith. Will you stand for Christ when a brother hates you for speaking the truth in love that hurts him? Will you stand when you are faced with a lying brother? Will you stand when the enemy uses close family friends to try your patience? Will you speak the truth when the Lord uses your spouse to try your patience? Can you engage faithfully in the church when the pastor does not acknowledge your worth? My friends these are wonderful tests. We must not shrink from the challenge.
James 1:2-3 (KJV) 2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Imagine yourself sitting in front of the TV watching HBO. There is a championship fight on and the champion is beating the challenger to a pulp. You find the champion to be a ferocious and well skilled fighter and wonder how anyone could beat him. Then after the fight during the interview, the champ tells the HBO reporter that he is going to fight you next for 25 million dollars to the winner, and 24,999,999.99 to the loser. You sit in amazement at the thought of being rich beyond measure, and more than likely publicly humiliated. Then the phone rings about an hour later. It’s the champ. He tells you that the fight is fixed and he will drop in the first round from one of your blows and not get back up, making you the new champ. This is Christianity in a nutshell. The fight is fixed, the treasure is beyond measure, and the ex champ (enemy) is defeated before the fight starts. It appears from afar off the enemy is unbeatable, until you turn to the book of Revelation. So when the enemy comes (allowed to come) to apply pressure, rejoice brethren!! He is being used by God to train you. How many of you wear dumbbells as necklaces? They are unattractive and to be used for only one thing and that is to cause our muscles to respond in a more efficient manner. This is how God uses the enemy to strengthen us to do His will. That is another form of pressure. If you have ever been underneath 300 lbs of metal, I am here to testify that there is pressure in that situation.
Most of us would like to choose the erosion method of pressure. We want the small doses over long periods of time. Tomorrow, tomorrow, there is always tomorrow. It’s only a day away. We entertain this thought each time we are faced with a daunting task. Each time we must face our own shortcomings. Each time we must endure heartache, tribulation or trial. We would like to put it off until the next day. We are sure we will be stronger or able to deal with the issue the next day. This is the erosion method. Some mountains are shaped by decades of wind, rain, snow, ice, or maybe a flowing or raging river. We are shaped as Christians when we get tossed by the winds of different doctrines.
Ephesians 4:13-15 (KJV)
13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
When the rivers that flow freely in the world such as pride, lust, hate, fear and deceit start to alter our faith, the erosion theory can take a negative effect upon us. The pressure from winds, ice and rain causes large mountains to be shaped and stripped of the original look. The enemy also lurks within the conscious mind and carefully massages the pride mechanism within us. How does He do this? This is the erosion theory also. Small drops of suggestions permeate and reshape our thoughts toward something other than God. We must take great care to avoid this theory because though it may be the only route for some, it often times is the very route chosen to avoid the others.
Finally we will entertain the self inflicted pressure, or the volcanic method. When we spew our own spiritual magma out of our mouth, we cause the landscape of our faith to be changed. Instead of living by the axioms portrayed by man whether in church or the world, let us live by the examples outlined in Matthew through Acts. It is this example of Jesus Christ that will make the Father exceedingly glad. How many of us do not want to please both our heavenly and earthly father? Since my father had no place in my life, I look to be highly instrumental in the life of my own children. They look to please me with each act, and I acknowledge their efforts constantly. This is the behavior pattern of the Father above. You make Him happy when “thy will be done” is your sole purpose. Yet we stray from that belief at times to elevate ourselves. To appear more together, wealthier, smarter, tougher and give glowing examples of who we are not. According to man, there are no scenarios where volcanoes are good. Yet would there be a beauty such as Hawaii without it? We must always look for the Christian good in our brothers and sisters. For example, a brother in church for whatever reason has not been going, and another brother in church goes 6 days a week. Who do you believe that the church assumes has it together? We attach the stigma of the natural to the beauty of the supernatural. We attribute worldly delights and consequences to heavenly truths. The bible lets us know that God rewards openly those good things you do in secret. So there is no way for your brother in church to know you were on a mission, speaking to kids, helping the needy, saving a family member, praying in a hospice or any other Kingdom mandated action. All the brother knows is you were not at church. It is the believer that treats you as a prodigal son upon your return, and a pretender who treats you as an orphan. How many of us have been out later than our parents expected and upon arrival received quite a reprimand. Yet if we were to see 5 minutes before arrival as God sees, it would be a praying mother crying to God about your safety. Listen; there is no perfect church, only perfect reasons to go. There is no perfect pastor, only the book of life he reads from is perfect. There is no perfect worship service, except that which is directed toward God. My brethren as a church body we know the exact sentence that every other person should be getting for their actions. Yet we fail often times to sentence ourselves. We must endeavor to reach an understanding and reconcile ourselves fully to Christ through self-examination.
Psalm 26:2 (KJV) 2Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
1 Corinthians 11:27-29 (KJV)
27Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
In closing, let us move toward a place where we accept pressure from God as a testimony to His faith in us, and not to His curse upon us. Let us not look upon the things that go wrong as insurmountable, but as the word says,
Romans 8:28 (KJV) 28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
If we could just look to the travails of planet earth and how its beauty was created, we would have a glowing example of our own victories in travails. Let’s take a look at the human body. God designed it and it perfectly mimics the earth. We are born with 75-78% of water in our bodies, the earth is between 70-73% water. You can also look at the minerals found in the human body and they resemble the make up of the earth to a tee. Is it possible that the scripture,
7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
be true?
A friend of mine uses a phrase that exemplifies the beauty of God’s grace. It lets the listener know that God does not look to have you sorrowful. Praise to our God that the trials and tests do pass on, oftentimes to better things or greater tests. My friend went through many trials, and I was there with him when he learned a few things about how to overcome them. He has encouraged me many times, but not with his words. He encourages through perseverance in life itself. He is a living testimony to the saying he loves to repeat, “This too shall pass”. Though it is nowhere in the bible, it is a strong message for believers to understand the nature of God is that He is living, moving and never stagnant. He is always there to provide that paternal and Godly pressure, to prove us.
Romans 12
2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
2 Corinthians 13:4
5Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
