GOOD DESCRIPTION OF PRESSURE!!

(this sounds like me)

GOD: Hey, son, it’s 3:30 a.m. Why aren’t you sleeping?

us: I was sleeping fine, Lord, but I woke up with a lot on my mind. I’ve been under a lot of pressure lately, Lord. So has my wife, my family, and my ministry. This year-long legal battle has produced a lot of pressure in many ways, especially financially. I also feel a deep yearning to be with my family and back out spreading Your Gospel. I guess it all woke me up.

GOD: Didn’t you go to bed asking Me to handle all those things?

us: Yes, Lord, I did.

GOD: Then why are you still carrying all that load, son? Don’t you trust me (I Peter 5:7)?

us: I guess not like I should, Lord. I’m sorry.

GOD: Well son, let me explain a few things to you about pressure (II Corinthians 1:8). First, pressure is good. I created it. It is required to get the juice from the fruit, the oil from the olive and the fragrance from the flower. Without pressure, the rivers would not flow nor the water in your plumbing. It keeps the electrons flowing in the wires to light the room and turn the motor in the AC unit, which then supplies pressure to compress the Freon and force the air to circulate to cool the building.

Your diaphragm pulls down on your lungs as you breathe and air pressure all around you forces air into your lungs to keep you alive. It is pressure that gets the oxygen from your lungs into the blood stream which is moved around your body by more pressure supplied by your heart, arteries, and capillaries.

It is pressure that keeps all your cells inflated and makes your eyeballs round so you can see to read My Word and enjoy My world.

Pressure keeps the ink flowing out of the pen you hold and press against the paper which is made of fibers pressed into sheets and cut by pressure.

Pressure keeps strings tight in a piano so that when they are struck (more pressure), they vibrate and exert pressure on the air around them which makes your eardrum move, and you can hear the music.

Pressure lets you chew your food and turn your head to see the air pressure called wind rustle the leaves on the trees, that exist because of root pressure pushing water up to make them grow and push water and nutrients into the fruit, for you to chew or squeeze with more pressure.

Pressure also forces various materials into more usable shapes. Wasn’t that pen you are holding formed and filled using pressure? Weren’t the parts of that table you are sitting at and the parts of the building you are in all formed by pressure? Isn’t the building you are in held in place by pressure?

us: Yes, Lord. It is all true.

GOD: Pressure also keeps things moving, son. Does your pen move by itself?

us: No, Lord. I provide the pressure. By itself, it would do nothing.

GOD: And even when you move it, the results are hard to read. You need to work on your handwriting, son.

us: I know, Lord. Sorry about that.

GOD: Every time you walk you put pressure on the floor. Where would you be without the relentless pressure of gravity?

us: I’d be lost in space, Lord.

GOD: Yes you would, son. Pressure is good. I created it. Secondly son, don’t you humans have thousands of ways of using pressure? Don’t you have thousands of instruments and expensive gauges to monitor and regulate the pressure on millions of things you do down there?

us: Yes, Lord, we do.

GOD: If you didn’t keep the pressure just right your pipes would explode, your electrical wires would all melt, and your tires would go flat. Don’t you think I’m smart enough to monitor the pressure I allow on My children (Mark 1:35; I Corinthians 10:13; I Peter 5:7)?

us: Yes, Lord, You are.

GOD: Aren’t you careful to use just the right pressure on the steering wheel, the gas, and the brakes as you drive?

us: I try, Lord.

GOD: That’s a good point, son. You, your second son, and your daughter all need to use a little less pressure on the gas pedal!

us: Oh, Lord, you are right. I’ll tell them.

GOD: Don’t you humans use pressure to squeeze lots of things into a desired shape, to be more useful to yourselves?

us: Yes, Lord. Millions of things from pancakes to space shuttles require pressure to produce.

GOD: Don’t you think that I know how much pressure to use to get you into the desired shape (Romans 8:29)?

us: Yes, Lord, You know.

GOD: I’m monitoring all the gauges, son. I know exactly how much pressure you are under, how much you can stand, and how much is needed to get you into the desired shape. Everything is under control. Trust me.

us: I’m trying, Lord. It just hurts, that’s all.

GOD: Pressure often hurts, son, but it is required to get the job done. You have circuit breakers to make sure your wires don’t get too much pressure and pop off valves to be sure your water heater doesn’t explode. I’ve got ways to get excess pressure off of you, son. Didn’t the judge grant the Motion for Release Pending Appeal to keep your wife from going to prison August 31st?

us: Yes, Lord, she did.

GOD: Didn’t that take a lot of pressure off all of you?

us: Yes, Lord, it sure did. Thanks!

GOD: That’s just the beginning, son. Lots of items you use were formed under pressure, but once the item is formed, the pressure can be taken off. I’m forming you, son (Genesis 2:7; Proverbs 26:10; Isaiah 43:7; 44:2; Galatians 4:19). I’ll relieve the pressure when it’s time.

us: I know, Lord, I feel the pressure. Thanks for working with me.

GOD: It’s my pleasure, son. I work with all my children like this (Romans 8:29-30; 12:1-2; Philippians 1:6). I can squeeze a lot into a little. You should see the power I squeezed into uranium and plutonium atoms! I know precisely how much pressure to use to make a seam of coal, a pool of oil, and a diamond.

I know exactly what pressure you need to get you where I want you. Hold still, son. Patience means to bear up under pressure. Be patient, son. Trust me.

us: I’m trying, but I am not good at all with patience!

GOD: Thirdly, son, if the pressure is too great, I will carry the excess load (Matthew 11:29-30). I will never give you more than you can bear (I Corinthians 10:13). The pipes in my house don’t burst and my tires never go flat. I don’t get tired or surprised.

us: God, are you squeezing me to get something out of me, get something into me, or get me in a more usable shape?

GOD: All three and more, son. If I told you everything I was doing, your little brain would not be able to handle it all.

I’ve gotten some prayers and writings from you that you didn’t have time for in the free world. I’ve had you read things, watch things, hear things, and experience things that have changed you forever. I can squeeze things into you and out of you at the same time.

I’m getting some oil, fragrance, and juice out of you that is helping nourish, refresh, and bless some of your brothers and sisters in Christ. I’m also using you to convict and convert others who were not My children until they saw you get squeezed like this.

I can squeeze all positive protons together in atoms; then squeeze the atoms into metal to make a trumpet (I Corinthians 15:52; I Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 1:10) which I will very soon squeeze air through to call My children home! I can put the needed pressure in the right spots to cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to My glory (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11).

I can supply the pressure to open the prison doors (Acts 5:19; 12:7; 16:26) and cause even the heathen to praise My name. I’m in charge. I’m God!

us: I know, God, I’m sorry to doubt. Sometimes I just forget.

GOD: It’s all under My control. Go to sleep. When you get up, relax, enjoy My Word and My world. Get a tan, read a book, and let’s talk some more. Forget the pressure, son. I’ll take it from here. I’ve got your back.