Life Under Pressure

I would like to share this month a bit about being under pressure. Pressure is defined as a continuous physical force exerted on or against an object by something in contact with it. It can also be defined as the use of influence, coercion, or intimidation to make someone do something. Pressure will trigger feelings & emotions that will help you understand the source of it & when you can pinpoint where it’s coming from, you can either allow it to consume you or you can surrender it to God. There are some things you don’t have any control over, so you surrender it to God. There are somethings you can control, but you must make sure the pressure doesn’t overtake your mind to a point where you end up in a place of regret.

I would like to share about the pressures of life we encounter on a daily basis. It is important for us as believers to recognize what and whom has a negative form of influence in our lives. There are people who if we let them, will cunningly manipulate and pressure us into situations where we got no business being in.

In today’s world pressure begins at an early age.

There’s the social pressure of fitting in. There’s the pressure of looking a certain way, financial pressures, (I told my boss I needed a raise, that 3 other companies were after me. He asked me which ones, I said gas, electric & oil) We experience pressures in the workplace, emotional & social relationship pressures, fitting in, making new friends, moving, being a caregiver, divorce, illness, the pressures of measuring up, having the latest gadgets, the pressures of social media, the pressure of keeping up with the Joneses. Pressure will have stress & anxiety eventually creep up on you and it will get in the way of your daily life, your work life, family life, social life, church life and even your walk in Christ. But my bible tells me …

Philippians 4:6-7 ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Know that when you go to God, he will provide you with the peace necessary to withstand the pressures of life.

There is a difference between the pressures of the world and the pressure God sometimes want you to grow thru.

You see the world wants to crush you, to drive you into despair, to make you feel forsaken, to destroy you, but my bible tells me otherwise.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Some of you are probably feeling like you’re losing it, you’re at a breaking point. God is telling you today, stay with me, I’m going to get you thru this, stay in my will, don’t lose your courage, stay in my house … The Potters House!