Pressing

 

 

It’s not a very dynamic picture, is it?  The colors are dull and gray and no real wow factor to write home about.

 

This was the last picture I took during a morning of walking and talking with friends, and shooting the beauty of the Pacific Ocean.

 

As I turned from the waves and the sand and the sky, before we left, there sat these rocks. Actually, as you can see, they’re boulders.  Huge boulders. All stacked up on each other, interlocked and fierce looking; in fact, kind of ominous and overwhelming if you want to know the truth.

 

But as I looked closer at the goliath of the protective barrier, I noticed the two small rocks in between the big ones.

Maybe someone put them there.

Maybe they’ve been there for decades.

Maybe they tumbled to their current position.

 

It didn’t really matter how they got there, it was the fact they were there.

 

 

And I thought of us. You and I.

 

 

Don’t we feel like those small rocks sometimes?

Don’t we feel like we’re in-between the giants of problems in our lives and everything is pressing in on us?

Doesn’t it feel like we’re barely holding the weight off from our shoulders?

 

That’s what I saw in those two smaller rocks.

 

You were with me.

 

And I was quickly reminded of a great verse. It shouted out at me while standing there:

 

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NIV

 

 

 

I don’t know about you but the concerns of life so often press in on me…

Burdens that I make into mountains.

Issues that I make into problems.

Troubles that I make into routines.

 

Pressing, pressing, pressing!

 

But the words to the Corinthians give me Hope! I pray they do for you too.

 

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed.

 

Like the small rocks, it makes no difference how we got to where our problems feel so monumental, that isn’t the focus. Having a Savior that tells us the pressing will not destroy us, is.

 

“A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.” Psalm 34:19-20 NIV

 

Not sure where you’re at today.

Maybe some burdens feel like they’re pressing in.

Maybe you feel the weight of the world looming over you.

Maybe it’s not that bad, but you’re certainly feeling like those little rocks sitting in the big crevice of life.

 

May I boldly suggest—take heart–take Jesus.

 

You will not lose the battle, for the God who is willing to protect you from the weight of life has waged the battle before you and won.  Let His strength be yours.