Under Pressure
Today’s Verse:
And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; ~Judges 16:16
Are you someone under pressure? Are you experiencing great stress in your job, your health, your family, or another important area of your life? There is the pressure of a trial, when the outcome of something is not in your control. There is the pressure from your peers to conform to them. There is the pressure from the world to cave in and turn over your virtue and testimony. This morning, let us see how we should respond when we’re under pressure.
We see the burden.
Samson felt the burden of pressure. Delilah pressed him daily with her words and urged him. Pressure of any kind in your life weighs you down. It overloads your mind and soul. After a period of time, you start to lose focus. You can become anxious and filled with care, and you can imagine losing things that you think you need to have. The burden from a pressure can result in loss of appetite and sleep. You can become disconnected from your family, your friends, and, even, reality itself. Be careful of the weight of pressure.
We see the breaking.
The pressure from Delilah was so great that Samson was vexed in his soul. She nagged on him with her words to the point where he felt like he was breaking. He felt like he was going to implode. He felt like he would die. Pressure applied at the right place and remaining constant or increasing over time has the potential of breaking you. When you start to break, you have placed your life in a very vulnerable position. You have declined to the point where you are not praying or relying on God’s Word for the answer that you need. Be careful of pressures breaking you.
We see the boundaries.
We will always have pressure in our life. We must know how to offensively deal with pressure. It is important that we develop boundaries when pressure comes into our life. The first boundary is to limit the pressure to prayer. Pray through every pressure. Let Satan know that you are a victor in Jesus and have no intention of abdicating your prayer life. The second boundary is to distance yourself from external sources that contribute to the pressure increasing. Samson should have distanced himself from Delilah, but he allowed her to press upon him daily. If he had spent more time in God’s presence than he did with Delilah, he would have defeated the pressure in his life. The third boundary is to cast all your care upon the Lord, for He careth for you. This is related to prayer but implies the importance of you not trying to deal with your pressure in your own strength when it should be in God’s power.
We see the breakthrough.
The breakthrough is when we overcome the pressure. It is coming out from being buried under an avalanche. God is always the means by which pressures are overcome. Safety is not found in the absence of danger (or pressure), but in the presence of God. The breakthrough is when, through God’s intervention, we can walk confidently out of our pressure knowing full well that the victory is in the Lord and that He constantly has our back. The pressure is bruised under our feet. The answer we are looking for has arrived. The most important is that we have learned to trust God completely through our pressure.
Don’t let pressure vex your soul. Nip it in the bud quickly by going to God in prayer.
Have a pressure-relieved God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Psalms 108-114