1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
“Did you ever try to clean beef stew off the kitchen ceiling? During World War II, a hardware dealer in our town whispered in my ear that he had unexpectedly received a pressure cooker and would let me buy it for my wife. In those days, when we couldn’t get such commodities, the man was doing me a favor in making it available to me. So, I bought it and took it home. My wife was preparing a stew one day— a bang and a call from the kitchen brought me running. The pressure cooker had blown up, and what was supposed to be in the cooker was on the ceiling. It had a safety valve that was supposed to let off the excess steam, but somehow that safety valve had become clogged, and the pressure built up until the little rubber plug, (that was the safety valve), let go with a bang and that pot emptied itself through that quarter inch hole”[1]
When I read this illustration, I thought back on my grandmother Zimmerman’s pressure cooker. For those who don’t know what a pressure cooker is, just look up the vintage version of this contraption online. My cousins and siblings would have to go through the kitchen to enter her little country home in Spring Lake Kentucky. There on her old porcelain stove sat the steaming pressure cooker. As a child it looked very foreboding, it was a scary, whistling, steaming, bubbling, pot of some sort, like an experimental science fiction apparatus. It had big black screw like handles all around it to clamp the lid down, it was heavy looking with a gauge on top. I remember a steel sort of round block on top, a noisy “jigger relief valve” that made it sound like it was ready to explode! Of course, the more you turned up the heat the pressure would build and the louder it got. To add to the mysterious menacing look, mom told all of us to be careful around it because it might not be safe. Thankfully nothing ever happened, but if it ever did, I couldn’t imagine how much of a mess it would make and the possible harm that would result.
As I reflect upon the verse above in relation to the pressure cooker illustration, I am reminded of people I have counseled over the years. The person under pressure because of life circumstances, sickness, troubles at work or at home, explodes, and there is a mess within them and all around them. For some a normal day is abnormal to them, they are wrestling with life and every day seems like a wrestling match and they explode under pressure. In reality just living a normal day by day life can bring about difficult experiences that create pressure and tension. How we handle the pressures of life is the issue. The pressure in the pressure cooker is controlled by heat. If you turn up the heat, the pressure builds. If we allow the heat to be turned up on our lives the pressure will build and we may indeed finally blow up. It’s worth noting that others may be attempting to turn up the heat, we however don’t have to allow them to do so, we can turn the heat down and not allow them to control the heat.
At times we turn up the heat on ourselves and the heat and pressure builds. We allow thoughts to consume us or we handle things improperly and the pressure builds. Perhaps you are living with or around a person who seems to be always turning up the heat, you are not turning up the heat but they are, and you feel the pressure. They are making a lot of noise like the jigger valve on the pressure cooker because they are being over bearing or downright nasty. The commotion, complaining, and taking it out on everyone else is wearing you down. Life is full of illustrations of how the heat can be turned up until we almost explode, or have exploded. We must not allow the heat of a trial to be turned up until the pressure is too much and we explode.
When we allow the heat of the trial to rule us, we risk being controlled by the ensuing pressure. You may be blowing up at times, or just making a lot of noise because you are not handling life God’s way. You may be the kind of person who gives up or gives in because of how you handle pressure. Trials expose us in many ways. You may be turning the heat up on yourself by allowing the inner or outer pressures of life to increase and overwhelm you emotionally. Your emotions are an indicator of how you are doing inside and expose how emotionally oriented you are. The expressions of anger, worry, anxiety, withdraw, depression, sulking, and many other expressions of your emotions are coming from a heart that is being controlled by the heat of the trial or problem.
Often believers will attempt to escape pressure by their own means. A divorce, attempting to run from problems, diverting from the problems, acting as though there isn’t a problem. There is an inner struggle going on and the only desire is to relieve the tension. But any way of escape of our own making is actually worsening the problem of pressure. The person who becomes distant or reclusive by trying to hide from pressure slips into moodiness. Depression and despondency may take root because they feel trapped in life’s pressures. For others, the way to escape is blowing up and taking it out on everyone and everything else. In extreme cases, I have witnessed people ending up in a mental institution because they finally blew up under pressure. I have had the horrible experience of going to a home where a person who had godly counseling over a long period of time committed suicide under pressure. When we give up or give in to the pressures of life and try to escape on our own terms the destructive effects bring greater grief and sorrow. When we estrange ourselves from God’s Word, prayer, fellowship, and a steady diet of spiritual nourishment, the heat is going to be turned up. When we allow circumstances to control us rather than controlling the circumstances the heat is going to be turned up. When our thoughts become the authority on how to handle pressure, we will become trapped in our thoughts and the pressures of life will dog us day after day. How do you handle the pressures of life? Are you responding by turning up the heat on yourself? Are you turning it up on others? Pause and think about these questions. How are you handling the pressures of life from the inner man heart level? The expressions of how you handle pressure are coming from your heart. Your heart is the control center for thoughts, behavior, speech, and actions. 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us something about change from the heart level. Let’s consider truths within this verse concerning how to think and behave under pressure.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
Let’s start by explaining the word temptation. The word temptation in our verse means to make trial of, try, tempt, or prove. It’s the idea of being put to test as well as the tests or pressures that come in order to discover a person’s nature or the quality of something. “A state of trial in which God brings His people through adversity and affliction in order to encourage and prove their faith and confidence in Him.”[2] No matter how trials come or where they lead, God is not on the sidelines hoping things will all work out for you. He is ever with you; He is in the trial as well as the answer to the trial. If you start there, the next five points will help you to understand and deal with life’s pressures.
First, Temptation is a common occurrence in life, a human reality while living in a sin cursed world.
Trials are not unique they are part of the human condition, something everyone experiences. No matter how much you might not want trials to be a part of your life, they are as sure as the sun rising each and every day. Because trials are part of the human experience, we then accept them within that framework. (Job 5:6,7) Although the exact trial may be personally unique to you, there has not been a trial in life that has not been experienced by someone. The problem occurs when we place more tension on the trial by turning up the heat thinking that we are the only one who experiences such events. We may further turn up the heat thinking that life is not fair to us, or worse that God is picking on us. When trials are wrongly met or misunderstood, we turn up the heat on ourselves. We may be responding to trials by sinfully blaming others. We are angry at ourselves because we realize that the trial is actually of our own making, frustration, discord, erupt from us. Then there are times when we are blind to the fact that the trial is of our own making and we either refuse to admit our guilt or pride boils over into defensiveness. There may be a time when we turn up the heat by being tempted to blame God. We may fume over unexpected trials in life as though we are the target of everything that goes bad. Trials are common to man; the presence of sin and its influence is ever present. We shall see however that the believer is fully equipped to handle the commonplace struggles of everyday life. Having the understanding that you are living in a sin cursed world will shape how you view trials and protect you from turning up the heat allowing the pressure to build.
Secondly, God is faithful. This is one of His endearing attributes.
God is always faithful. We may agree to that statement in theory but it becomes lost in practice under the pressures of trials. Even when we are faithless, He remains faithful. (2 Timothy 2:13) The Bible gives us many truths and promises but none greater than God’s faithfulness, for everything depends upon it. (Hebrews 10:23) God is always faithful and we are not, God is sovereign and we are not. It’s comforting to know that He is in full control. You can fully depend upon and anchor your hope on His immutable faithfulness. (Hebrews 6:18-19) If you are holding on to your own faithfulness, or depending on your own faithfulness, you are sure to fail. We must hold on to the faithfulness of God. You can trust in His sovereignty knowing that He is in the trial, and that He is the solution to the trial. Matthew 28:20 “I am with you always”, Hebrews 13:5 “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” Knowing that God is faithful is more than knowing a fact about God, it must include putting faith in what God says about Himself and then exercising that faith. Knowing God’s attributes, getting to really know who God is will anchor you during trials. Remind yourself that He is sovereignly watching over you and that you are never alone. He is steadfastly faithful and loyal to His children. Remember how you have experienced God’s faithfulness and have seen others do the same faith. Repeat this in your thinking and meditation throughout the day and when you lie in bed at night. His Word reminds us repeatedly of His faithfulness, go back and revisit those passages and journal them with your thoughts. Trustworthiness and faithfulness are part of God’s character and He never fails to prove that His faithfulness is everlasting. Anchor yourself and hold fast to God’s faithful character while enduring trials. No one can predict what life will hand us along the way, but we can predict unequivocally that God is always faithful and with us in the trial.
Thirdly, He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability………. beyond what you are able.
When tested you may be tempted to conclude that it is beyond your ability to cope with what is happening, but the Bible is telling us something different, it is telling us that God’s faithfulness in the trial is not going to allow the trial to overwhelm you. This is the key to endurance under pressure, even extreme pressure. This passage is telling us that based upon the character of God’s faithfulness, the trial is not beyond what you are able to endure. “and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able”. We can be assured that no matter what we experience in life, the steadfast faithfulness of God’s loving care and guidance will see us through.
The measure of what may be considered the breaking point, when you think the pressure is too much to bear, is going to be determined by you within your own heart. You will be controlled by the circumstances or you will control how you are going to respond to the circumstances. That is a hard fact to contemplate, especially in extreme circumstances but it is true. Here the Bible is teaching us something about God and about ourselves. First, do we believe what the Bible is telling us about God’s faithfulness, and secondly, are we going to decide to trust in God’s faithfulness and not allow our heart to be overwhelmed by the pressure of the circumstances? It is within our ability to withstand any trial when our focus is on God’s faithfulness in the circumstance. Turning to Him under the greatest distress, confusion, and deepest hurt, is depending on His faithfulness to not allow the trial to crush us.
It would not be proper to diminish or act as though a devastating blow from the death of a child, or the severity of the loss of a loved one in an accident is simply to be written off as a common experience to man. No! we should never treat the shattering blows from such deep trials to be viewed without the greatest of Christian compassion. Even though these experiences are common to man, the hurt and the anguish of soul, the stress of the heat and pressure upon our very soul is great. Our God is aware of our brokenness, He is compassionately calling on us to pray, to read His Word, to trust in His faithfulness and seek the warmth and understanding of our brethren. Healing is found in the simplicity of all these resources during complex and harsh experiences of life.
A person told me upon returning from a stay at a mental institution, that they wished they would have listened to what I was saying from the Bible during our sessions. They allowed the pressure to become so great, that they asked their mate to commit them to a mental institution while we were in the middle of biblical counseling sessions. They went on to say that they thought that the secular institution would help them find the answers, but in fact it made things worse. The method of dealing with their struggles was self-focused rather than Godward focused. Every method of healing was horizontally focused upon them, their needs, their inner strength, their self-empowerment, rather that upon the vertical, dependence upon God and His Word for strength and healing. This person confessed that truth just wasn’t getting through, they heard me and agreed with me, but they allowed the pressure upon them to become so great that truth became hollow and ineffective. Our counseling wasn’t working, the Bible didn’t have the answers, there must be something else. Truths from God’s Word fell upon a heart that did not receive it by faith, and was not forbearing enough to allow God to work while they were in the trial. During their stay, the experience of horizontal methods of healing man caused them to reconsider what they were doing in such an institution. A place where it was ok to use God and religion as a sort of panacea for their troubles, but their horizontal methods were the real cure for their soul. They actually said that the secular methods of soul care actually grieved their soul!
After their experience they came to biblical counseling with new ears to hear by faith, I didn’t tell them anything different than before, but rather reinforced what we discussed in the past sessions. We worked through the past homework assignments and God worked through their faith with new ears. Jesus said of those who were listening to His teaching, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”. (Matthew 11:15, Mark 7:16, et al.) Jesus used this expression to denote the difference between those who were simply hearing what He said and those who were listening, understanding, and applying what He said. Hearing, “and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able”, at the surface level, and not listening at the heart belief level, is where the breakdown begins. If you are wondering if God really cares, or that you are beyond the limit of handling the trial, you are not listening with ears to hear. This is the very place that our faith begins to put back the pieces of a life shattered by trials. When we listen to God’s Word with ears of faith, receive truth with a heart of understanding and we apply truth by faith in believing what God’s Word says, it is God who will tenderly use His Word and His people to lead us through the overwhelming flood. Here is the place where “beyond what you are able” takes the shape of the ability to handle.
Don’t allow weakness of faith while experiencing trials, especially great trials, go without crying out to God for more faith to believe that He will sustain you. (Ps 55:22). When faced with the unimaginable horrors recorded in Mark 9 of a demon possessed son from childhood, a father in desperation expresses his deepest, honest, genuine evaluation of his need for more faith, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” Vs 24 The father did have faith, but confessed the weakness of his faith. He needed more faith to overcome his unbelief after experiencing years with no hope, even failure at the attempts of Jesus disciples to drive out the demon from his son. The fathers desperate cry, 22 …. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” is met with Jesus’s reply, 23 And Jesus said to him, ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Notice Jesus repeats the statement “if you can?” That’s not a question because, “All things are possible to him who believes.”
Herein lies a dichotomy between belief and unbelief. You have faith in the truth that He will not allow the temptation to go “beyond what you are able”, but at the same time you are confessing the lack of faith to realize it as true for you. Here is where you must cry out to the Lord, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” There is no shame in crying out in honest desperation with a lack of faith under pressure. Jesus knows our frailness; He sympathizes with our weaknesses, He was “tempted in all things as we are”, but without sinning. (Heb. 4:15) Jesus is not condemning you, he didn’t condemn the desperate father of the demon possessed son for his lack of faith, nor should you condemn yourself when under extreme pressure. Do you feel as though you are going to blow up, have you blown up? Friend, even if you have blown up under pressure Jesus will repair your damaged faith. You must believe He can and not give up. You must believe He will” not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.” Those promised words, “beyond what you are able”, will begin to blend into, “I am able by God’s sustaining grace”. Take time to think about these questions. Who allows the trial to overwhelm? Why are we overwhelmed? Have we given up because of our lack of faith?
Fourth, God may allow us to stay in the trial. “but with the temptation”.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
As we walk through this passage, we see something that we may not like at all. The fact that He will “with the temptation”, that is while in the trial, not removed from the trial, “provide the way of escape”. Some may be asking why wouldn’t God just get me out of this trial? That is not always how our God chooses to work. God controls the duration and intensity of trial so that we will depend upon His faithfulness, so that we literally come to the realization that we do not “live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) Fully and wholly dependent upon His very Word to sustain us, comfort us, and control how we respond and go on living during and after the trial. If during the trial, we struggle with being removed from the heat of the trial, and that is what we are living for, we will starve ourselves spiritually. If we feed ourselves with emotional turmoil, with doubt and frustration, with utter despair, with an unyielding bent toward control we will eventually starve ourselves spiritually. He is not removing us from the trial but allowing us to stay in the heat of the trial as He proves His faithfulness, and has us feasting upon His Word. With the heat of the temptation our faith should compel us to feast upon His Word. To see God in the trial through His Word and experience His faithfulness while in the trial is beyond compare. To have communion with God and His Word while in the trial is a place of rest no matter how you feel. The circumstances should never dictate how you feel about God even though it may be very hard. He has allowed the trial and is with you in the trial my friend. Remember, the circumstances do not dictate whether God is faithful or not faithful, the record of Scripture confirms that He is. Scriptures are the final authority on His faithfulness not the circumstances. The circumstances only provide a platform to experience His closeness and His faithfulness. God’s faithfulness is not based upon how things are going or how it finally works out. He is faithful despite any circumstances, in spite of any trial.
We must confess that being in the heat of a trial and remaining in the trial at the moment is not something that we choose. But God’s plan is different than ours at times. What our God desires from us is to remain faithful and trust Him while experiencing the trial, “with the temptation”. His goal is not to always remove us from the trial, or work it out the way we think it should work out. He wants us to completely depend on His faithfulness while in the heat of the trial. At times this can be agonizing and counter intuitive to your thinking. You may be asking why God would not protect us from the painful, distressing, and sometimes cruel experiences in life. However, the question is not why. Why we go through certain trials can only be known to Him. God does not insulate us from a world of brokenness, we experience the common effect of sin every day like everyone else. God’s people lose their lives in war, they suffer the loss of murder, suicide, criminal behavior, molestation and every other sin known to man.
The Christian life is not always joyful, we live in a sin broken world. God is teaching us how to live within the framework of sins brokenness, to experience His faithfulness in the darkest of dark moments, to increase our faith, to prove our faith. God wants me to bear with the trial because God wants me to have enduring faith, a faith based upon His faithfulness. Peter writing to suffering believers reminds them to “entrust their souls to a faithful Creator”. (1 Peter 4:19) Peter stated earlier in chapter one, that as they “have been distressed by various trials,” even though tested by fire”, indicating the extreme intensity of the pressure of their trials that will prove their faith. The result will be to the “praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ”. (1 Peter 1:6-9) This is not just a word of consolation, we are to consider God’s glory and honor as well as the fact that we are, “born again to a living hope”, “to an inheritance”, which is ”protected by the power of God through faith” (1 Peter 1:3-5) While under the pressure of being in the trial we entrust our souls to our faithful Creator God, considering God’s glory and honor, as well as the living hope of our salvation.
Just as sure as sin is the environment we live in; we also have the surety that God is faithful. So then, the question is not why, “why did God allow this to happen”? The why question may never be answered. The question to ask is, “what do you want me to do in this trial Lord”? Scripture addresses the what to do question in many ways. To trust in His faithfulness, whether I understand what I am experiencing or not. God wants me to use the trial in some way for His glory. The what question is the question to ask. What should I do with this experience for Your glory Lord? The why question leaves a person wondering what if, it allows a person to become captivated by their own thoughts, replaying an event or events, focusing on loss, self-pity, misery, and doubt about God’s will. The what question allows a person to immediately take action upon God’s revealed will to trust, to depend, and to remain faithful “with the temptation”.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
Fifthly, God also makes a way to escape. “will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”.
Mathew Henry in his commentary in First Peter states, “There is no valley so dark but he can find a way through it, no affliction so grievous but he can prevent, or remove, or enable us to support it, and in the end overrule it to our advantage.” All of our plans for today or tomorrow’s activities can be shattered by a thousand unknowns. The myth that somehow you can deliver yourself and have safety and security on your own is humanly impossible. Safety and security doesn’t exist without our Great Shepherds loving care. (Psalm 23) Every direction you turn there are unknowns and things beyond your control. That is why faith and trust and true belief in God’s faithfulness to provide a way to escape is the only way to have safety and security. We have trained our hearts to run from trials, to try to go around the trials, to somehow divert from facing the trial. Some give up, some fight and fume under the pressure of trials. These habitual responses to trials deepen the overwhelming effects of the trial. God may be teaching us something about ourselves, the varnish is being stripped away and our faith is standing out, exposed and in need of strengthening. All of us in some shape or form have the tendency to be self-reliant, we think we have things together and can make it on our own. Trials shift us away from our own self-reliance, trials open up avenues of reflection upon our faith.
Our prayer life often increases during times of trials because we feel the need to draw closer to God. The independent self-assured spirit that may be too prevalent in our lives begins to release its grip on our hearts as we begin to trust more in God who makes a way to escape. The escape is found in trusting God more and ourselves less. The way of escape is when our head knowledge becomes heart knowledge. God, as He always does, takes a trial or a tragedy and refines it into gold. Christ becomes real to us, we begin to see that “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” The way of escape is in my increasing faith in the Son of God. The way of escape is the realization that His suffering is incomparable to my suffering. Christ suffering left us an example that we should follow in His footsteps. (1 Peter 2:21)
Even a cursory study of the suffering of Christ leads one to acknowledge the example of how to deal with suffering. The way of escape is to know Him more intimately by knowing more about His suffering, to press on in our suffering. (Philippians 3:10–12) The way to escape is learning that God is not some kind of magician that is at my beckon call whenever I am under pressure. “Christ is not a magic wand that can be waved over our heartaches and headaches to make them disappear. “In [him] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). Wisdom and knowledge—including knowing how to be content—are hidden in him, like a treasure that needs to be searched for. To search for something concealed requires hard work: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).[3] If anything the pressure of trials causes us to quit dating God, it causes us to fully commit to Him in our desperation. It finally shapes within us a full understanding that He is the way of escape. It finally shapes within our understanding that we can endure being under pressure without blowing up.
Things God Would Want You to Do.
When I watched the sun rise early this December morning it caused me to think about heat. In the summer time we look out the window with a sense of agony when the sun rises and say it is going to be another hot day. At this time of the year, we are happy to have the sun upon us, warming us, the heat is welcomed without distress. We like to live where the temperature is just right, but like the change of seasons, it is bitterly cold and then sometimes it is mercilessly hot. Life is not like living in a temperate climate, sometimes the heat is on and sometimes life seems bitterly cold and hard.
Most importantly in whatever case God allows you to experience, continue to live for God’s glory. “Live for Gods glory, if you do that, no testing can ever shake you! If it glorifies God for me to lose my property, I am no loser. I gave to God my goods years ago! If I am put in prison & have lost my liberty, I am no loser. I gave up my liberty years ago! If you are told you are going to die, you are no loser. For you gave Him your life years ago!”[4] View difficulties in life as a normal part of the growth process, use them as stepping stones not stumbling blocks, settle in your heart God’s complete control in producing in you a strong faith in whatever has come your way. James 1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Find Bible characters like David and see how they responded to trouble. The Psalms are full of David’s cries for help and well as his times of comfort.
Journal, write about what you see in these Bible characters, write about your trial, pray about it specifically. Tell God that you are uncomfortable, that you are weak, that the pressure seems to be too much. Be open and honest with God in prayer as the psalmist were. Don’t be a prisoner to the trial, you can be a victim of pressure but you don’t have to remain a victim of pressure. Yes, life is full of pressure but Jesus cares and wants you to cast your cares upon Him. (1 Peter 5:7, Ps 55:22) You must exercise what you believe and act upon your faith.
Give thanks for the pressure. This sounds counter intuitive especially if it is an extreme case of pressure under trials, but this is another part of acting upon your faith. In time, being thankful that the Lord has been with you through the extreme pressure you have experienced will be a great source of comfort later. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Resign to allow God’s will for the pressure to occur in your life. This is another exercise of your faith. The Lord, under the extreme pressure of knowing He was going to bear the wrath of God upon Himself as the sacrifice for our sin prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Lk 22:42 Exercise your faith by trusting in God’s sovereignty when you don’t understand and may never understand.
Grow through the pressure. (Ja 1:2-4) Don’t isolate yourself, talk to someone. God has given you people at church, your family, and friends to help you in life. (Gal 6:2) Utilize God’s gift of people in your life and talk it over with them. There is wisdom in godly counsel. (Prov 1:5) God’s people will help you with perspective and encourage you in the Word. Don’t isolate them because you think that because they have not experienced what you are going through, they don’t know. They do know the same God that you serve and they do know God’s Word is a comfort and guide. No one can experience the exact same things as we do but we do not shut them out because of that.
Finally, see pressure as temporary and the comfort of God as permanent and sustainable. “Our toddler climbed up on some furniture and pushed out the window screen and fell to his death from our second story window.” Many years had passed since this father came and told me about this horrible accident, the scars were still present in his countenance as he told me the details of what happened. As a believer he had sustained the unimaginable blow of losing a child in such a horrible accident by trusting in God’s sovereignty in the midst of indescribable pressure of that experience. Some years later I asked him to write a letter to a man who turned from God because his toddler died during a hospital emergency. The letter fell on deaf ears. The heart that cried out with the blood curdling scream, “My son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Sam 18:33), is the same man who after losing a child, “came into the house of the Lord and worshiped” (2 Sam 12:20), and we are told he was a man after God’s own heart. (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22) Was David perfect? Not by a long shot but God demonstrated through him how a man can live life in various kinds of extreme pressure situations and live for Him. You can do the same.
Got pressure lately? Who doesn’t! When we take on the responsibility for what the day may bring forth, we subject ourselves to undue pressure and may blow up. Trust God! He is ever present with you. Hebrews 13:55……. for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”
[1] J. Dwight Pentecost, Life’s Problems God’s Solutions.
[2] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament,
[3] Tada, Joni Eareckson, When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty p. 172
[4] C. H. Spurgeon quote