TURNING PRESSURE TO POWER

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller

 

Have you ever ironed a rumbled shirt, or have you ever placed a hot iron on your skin by mistake and could you tell the difference, and outcome between, the hot iron on your skin and on the rumpled shirt? No doubt you have. Someone said, "Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars". Do you ever wonder what would happen if you attempted to eat a bowl of rice raw? And what finally happens when you put that rice into water, and through fire; I'm sure your mouth is watery right now as you remember the most delicious meal of rice you had sometime, as you read this line. You're not alone.

Have you ever admired a bowl of nicely, diced or chopped fruits in a fruit salad? Can you for a moment see a mental picture; like you had one in front of you this morning. Do you know what "properly" cooked beans, with beautifully fried (and ripe) plantain tastes like - I apologize to those who don't quite fancy beans - take your mind off of your distaste for beans a while and focus on the process all these delicacies go through, before they come out what the are meant to be. That's where I like to dwell this morning.

I don't know what it is you're battling, grappling or fighting with in your life. Does it feel like you're in the boxing ring with life and life seems to have knocked your teeth out, left your eyes swollen and lips busted? Does it feel like life has sliced and diced you so bad that you're now in tiny little meaningless chunks? Do you feel like the rice, the water is
too hot and the heat is unbearable and you feel like you've just about had enough. Have you prayed to God to get married a long time, now the husband or wife is here but your parents are refusing because he's not from your tribe or because she's not from a wealthy family?

I don't know what pressure, pain or discomfort you're going through this morning, but I like to tell you, God is in the midst of the boxing ring with you. He'll not allow more than you can bear. He knows your pain. As a matter of fact, he allowed the pain so that you'll be prepared for your next level. He says your challenges are the birth pangs of something great that is about to happen to you. It's not going to crush you but to brush you up. If the rumpled shirt could speak, it'd tell you how uncomfortable the heat from the iron is, but until it goes through the heat it doesn't come out beautiful. Like the shirt, God is using the pains you're experiencing now, to eliminate every wrinkle from your life because you're about to enter into the presence of a king; you don't visit a king in rumpled clothes. Without the pain, there's no significant gain. It's not over, hold on. Life just got better for you. God is turning your pressure, into power. Hallelujah!