Pressure. It is something that few people like, but always necessary to succeed. There is someone reading this post right now, and you do not realize that the pressure you are undergoing is a necessary part of your life that will eventually help you succeed. We have all heard the story about the grain of sand that was just ordinary. A grain of sand that looked just like all the other million grains of sand on the beach. A mollusk came by and swallowed the grain of sand one day. Could it get any worst. In this dark place surrounded by yukky mollusk juice, trapped inside a shell of circumstance. That is where some of you are today. Trapped inside a shell of circumstances. Eventually the sand grew to be a beautiful pearl. Without the mollusk , it could not transform into it's most beautiful form. And that is where some of you are today. You are trapped inside your circumstances, and God is transforming you into your most beautiful form. Go ahead and say to yourself, "I am not going crazy, I am being transformed!"
I could insert the story of Joseph right here. But we already know about Joseph. I could insert the story of Moses right here. But we already know about Moses. I could insert the story of Samson right here, and all his trials and pressures. But we already know about Samson. These serve as a witness and a testimony to us that these trials that we face are only temporary. Every test has a start, and an end...it's the middle part that gets to us sometimes. Moses started in the bull rushes, and ended up looking across the Jordan...it was the middle part that was hard to take. Joseph started out with a pretty coat, and ended up second only to Pharaoh. It's that middle part that was hard to swallow. Some of you are struggling because right now you are going through that middle part! It's like your struggling to get over on the other side, where your victory is just in sight. It can seem like you are stuck in the mud, going no where, stuck in that middle part where everything that can go wrong will go wrong.
When you are going through those trials, and you haven't yet reached that place of peace and prosperity that God has for you, it can seem like the pressure is unbearable. What do some people do during that middle part 'THEY RUN FOR THE HILLS' Look at the story of Jonah. He had a good start in obeying God's call, and eventually he returned back to that call and a revival broke out in Nineveh. But, that middle part, with the whale...wow. He ran from his pressures and he ended up in the belly of a whale.
We start out so in love, then the trials come, and the pressures increase. We find our marriage in that middle part where we haven't found our happiness and our blessing, and we are miserably unhappy, and we RUN. I'm getting OUT OUT OUT. We start out so excited about our new job...then we find our self in that middle place where we can't seem to get the kind of work we want. We get discontent and upset and the next thing you know we are singing that song, "Take this job and shove it!" And we RUN RUN RUN to another job. A new marriage, a new job, a new house, a new church, a new promise...Some of us never get to the end of our trials, where the blessings are because we are always RUNNING from the pressures and starting ALL over again.
HELLO. While new beginnings is usually exciting, new beginnings generally ALWAYS lead to that UNPLEASANT middle part that EVERYONE has to learn to overcome! Starting all over doesn't eliminate your problems, it only relieves pressure for a moment. After you start over, and the problems starts up again, you are going to have the same pressures.
You say, "what do I do when the pressure is on, how do I stay and make my way through to the other side where I got my blessings coming."
Isaiah has your answer:
Isaiah 37:31 And the remnant that have escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
You take this Word of God and you begin to tell yourself to take root downward. You don't have time to waste running away from this pressure. When the pressure cooker gets real hot it's time to take root downward! You let your roots go down into Christ where there is cool life giving water. Running away won't get you through to the other side, it will just put you back at the starting point. You won't be closer to the answer, you will be farther away. Your answer is to take root downward. How about saying, "Devil! I'm here to stay. I've taken my root downward into Christ Jesus and I am built on the rock. I ain't afraid of your tornados, hurricanes, or rainy Mondays...I'm taking root downward and then I will bear fruit upward.
Someone is thinking, now this place I am in right now, I don't want to take root downward here. No. This isn't all I want. I want something better, something more, something nicer. Look at Joseph. Tossed in jail for a crime he didn't commit. What did he do? He took root downward RIGHT there. He started working, and using his gifts, and worked his way up to foreman of the jail...and then GOD delivered him into a new position as second in the entire Kingdom. Look at Moses. He found himself on the backside of the dessert with nomads. He took roots downward. He married one of the farm girls, raised the sheep, helped his father-in-law. Is this what he envisioned for his life. NO. He knew he was supposed to deliver his people out of bondage, and here he is tending sheep on the backside of the desert. He took root downward and bore fruit upward right where he was on the backside of that desert. And God come in a burning bush and got him out of that place, and put him right back on path and destiny for his life. No matter where you are in life, take root downward and bare fruit upward and depend on God to promote you to a better position!
What circumstance do you find yourself in today. You need to root downward, and bare fruit upward, and when you have made your way through that 'middle part' God will elevate you to where he wants you to be in life.
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