Under Pressure!

My devotion today was hand-picked by God just for me. He's just that good, right? :)

"We are pressed...but not...broken" 2 Corinthians 4:8

Do you feel like you're in a tunnel with no way out? Rejoice, you're positioned for a miracle! Paul said, "We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed...but we don't give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going." A certain amount of pressure is necessary to release our faith, and God knows exactly how much to apply. He allows us to get to where (a) We've exhausted our own resources; (b) we're tired of Satan stealing what God says is ours; (c) the opinions of others no longer control us. It's the place Hannah found herself in when she prayed in the temple, "In distress of soul...and weeping bitterly" (1 Sa 1:10). She was under such pressure because of her childless state that when she began to unburden herself before God, the church hierarchy thought she was drunk. But when you're desperate, you're not overly concerned about blowing the minds of religious onlookers; your only concern is touching the heart of God.

With God there are no hopeless situations, just people who've grown hopeless about them. Real faith comes into its own when push collides with shove. After all, you don't need God to part the Red Sea when there are bridges all around, right? It's when there's nothing you can do to avoid the inevitable that you start trusting God to do the impossible! So the crisis you're experiencing today could be a blessing in disguise - an opportunity to experience a greater degree of His power at work in your life.
The Word For You Today, August 21, 2008