Pressures

An excerpt from my devotional this morning....by Ruth Bell Graham.

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:

but this one thing I do,

forgetting those things which are behind,

and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

I press toward the mark for the prize

of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 3: 13-14

There are pressures and pressures. This is about necessary, even creative pressure; not pressure that destroys and debilitates. Capstones, not compactors.

Have you ever studied an old stone arch? The capstone supports the weight of the whole: it bears the pressure.

We appreciate the value of pressure when we see a tourniquet stopping the flow of blood and thus saving a life.

J. Hudson Taylor, that great pioneer missionary to China, used to say we should not mind how great the pressure is-only where the pressure lies. If we make sure it never comes between us and our Lord, then the greater the pressure, the more it presses us to Him.

It may be one more request than we think we can fulfill, one more responsibility than we think we can manage, one more phone call, one more pile of dishes to wash, one more bed to make, one more room to clean, one more complaint to listen to, one more interruption.

Interruptions never distracted Jesus. He accepted them as opportunities of a richer service.

I'm trying...

to listen more, yell less...

say yes more, say no less...

lean on Him more and me less...

The pressures are truly great sometimes...may they press me ever closer to Him.