Feeling the pressure? Most folks do. It comes from every direction, doesn’t it? We’re responsible for things. Obligations have to be met. Duties done. Commitments kept. You name it, the heat’s always on.
Our Bible has within its pages a whole family of words that have in their background the idea of pressure—and not necessarily just ordinary pressure such as having to meet a schedule, but pressure of a more serious sort. Some of these pressure-point words that appear in the New Testament are translated as persecuted, troubled, distressed and sufferings, hardships, afflictions, as well as some other terms each describing circumstances we’d all much prefer to avoid.
One of my professors used to tell his students that anytime one of these words appears in the New Testament, it’s safe to think pressure because in one way or another this will help convey their general meaning that life is pressing down upon us. And we do feel the squeeze, don’t we?
It’s interesting the way this idea of pressure is handled in 2 Corinthians 4:8-18. Some New Testament versions choose the words ‘We are hard pressed on every side,” while others use such terms as troubled or afflicted. In any case, the idea clearly comes across that circumstances bear down upon us heavily.
But one very significant help in relieving the pressure, so to speak, is to realize that the Lord does not simply warn us that life can be heavy, then leave us to cope with it on our own. Paul wrote that though we are hard pressed, we are not crushed; we may be perplexed, but not abandoned; if we are struck down, we are not destroyed. Even when life seems to fall apart and our bodies literally waste away, we do not lose heart. God gives us renewal. We see the unseen. We look right past that which is temporary and see eternity.
We have the spirit of faith that leads us to believe that the same God who raised Jesus from the dead will also raise us up, and cause us all to stand together in his presence. True, this doesn’t eliminate life’s hardships. They’re a permanent fixture, and stress is here to stay. But life’s pressures will be more easily managed if we keep our eyes on the eternal glory. It outweighs all our troubles.