It is true that pain is part of the body's
way of telling you something is wrong. Hunger pangs are your body's way of saying,
you need to eat and heavy eyes tell you your body wants a rest. Your
body puts pressure on you to make you do certain things at different times, but
there are times that you don’t listen
to your body because you know better. You sit still for that injection, you
swallow that bitter drug, you ignore hunger pangs and ‘fast and pray’ and you
stay awake all night to prepare a document for submission. Even though your body puts pressure on you
to make it comfortable you (your mind) overrides its feelings because you are
seeing something your body is not seeing.
I learned something when I read this
scripture Hebrews12:4 In your struggle
against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. If you have ever asked yourself why you do things you
don’t want to do, or why you do things you know you will later regret, consider
this:
Can you remember that
feeling you get when someone does something utterly and completely annoying and
silly? For example an Okada rider splashes water on you while you are trying to
get into an office for a business meeting or an interview.
There is this feeling that
wells up inside you and all you want to do is give the person who annoyed you a
piece of your mind. That is the feeling I am talking about. If the person
drives off before you can express yourself, how do you feel? Pent up? Sometimes
its like you might burst isn’t it? That is the pressure, that pressure that
makes you feel, if I don’t do this or that, I won’t be okay.
When your spirit, soul or
body wants something and is not getting it, it puts you under pressure. Its
what motivates us to take actions to achieve our desires.
·
Pressure to
Look a Certain Way MAKES us go on a diet J
·
Pressure to
pass exams MAKES us study
·
Pressure to
get out of trouble OR saying “I don’t want to give them something to use
against me” MAKES us LIE
·
Desperation OR
saying “If I don’t take this money, how am I supposed to pay my fees”, MAKES us
STEAL
·
Pressure from
pride OR saying “There is no way I can let them get away with it”, MAKES us
Revenge
·
Pressure to
fit in OR saying “I don’t want to be laughed at” MAKES us compromise on our
values
Pressure plays a big role in how we organize our priorities
PRESSURE MAKES US ACT and
the purpose of the action is to remove pressure and feel comfortable again. There
is nothing wrong with pressure at all, as I always say, “In a world without
hunger, everyone would die of malnutrition.”
The bible talks about sin and
pressure saying in Romans 8:7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
So imagine a can of soda.
When you shake the can, you cause the molecules to move around and the liquid
to become pressurized. Once the can is opened the liquid must jump out and
spray. The liquid has no choice it is
powerless to stay inside the can, and it does not want to stay inside anyway.
It sprays and gets wasted.
That’s why sometimes, no
matter how much you try to do the right thing, there is a level of provocation
that puts you under so much pressure that you just end up breaking and falling
for the temptation. But I have good news for you.
Romans 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the
things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the
Spirit. That little cover on the soda can is like the Spirit of God
in you. Circumstances and desires can shake and shake and shake the can and put
the liquid under so much pressure, but that cover will never pop-open on its own.
If you let that cover keep the liquid in check until it settles down again, then
when you open the can, there will be no waste, no regrettable compromise, no guilt.
Just a very wonderful drink ready to fulfill its purpose.
On your own you may not be
able to stop yourself from giving to the pressure that comes from within, but
with the Holy Spirit at work in you, you will have extremely great success in
holding in the pain and discomfort that resisting temptation can bring you way.
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him
that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from
the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in
you.
Pressure doesn’t feel good and pain is called pain for a reason,
it is unpleasant. Sometimes there will be nothing in the present that makes you
feel good about being under pressure. At that point, be like Jesus who when on
the cross, had absolutely nothing in his present circumstance that he could use
to console and encourage himself. Instead of getting discouraged, he, by faith looked
into the future. He had to keep his mind on the promise God had given him. He
was able to endure “for the joy that was set before him”. Hebrews 12:1-3
Halleluyah! We are no longer slaves to sin because we are no
longer obligated to the sinful nature. Now we have a choice. Thanks to the the
blood of Jesus we are no longer debtors to the sinful nature. We have a choice.
Romans 8:12
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father God, “The pressure to
__________________is painful, the pressure is pressing, I cannot deny that I am
tempted to ________________ and I am under pressure to give in and feel free,
but Holyspirit, I choose to bear it, rather than sin in order to feel better.
Help me by your power”. Help me to stay true. Keep me by your word and your power
Hebrews 12:4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
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