Hard Pressed

Feeling stretched thin, hard pressed? Is life becoming overwhelming? We tend to get overwhelmed in life – stretched thin, and think “God, what are you doing? Where are you?” But I broach this question, what if God is intentionally stretching us thin so that he can make us stronger? What if God purposefully gives us more than we can handle in our day to day lives?Some of you may have read my blog ‘God Is Forging You’ in which I talk about how “flaws” in a metal actually make it stronger. Likewise, a substitutional “flaw” of 0.5% chromium atoms intermingled with 99% alumina makes rubies – something far more valuable than regular alumina. If we recall that blog, I proposed that God gives us flaws, and adds heat and pressure to make us into precious stones and stronger metals – but how else does God use our flaws?Any electrician would tell us that the basis for modern day electricity and life is the basic copper wire. By itself, copper wire is not impressive, very common, yet very important. It is only when we look at how the copper wire is made that we can understand the beauty of it. Copper wire is made by taking a block of copper, and “cold working” it (a process by which copper is gradually sent through rollers which compact it) into wires. In the act of compressing the copper, all of the “flaws” within the copper are packed together and group up – making the copper wire much stronger. Later processes restore electrical conductivity to the wire, and we are left with a strong, resilient wire that is a building block of modern life.What if God does the same thing to us every single day? What if God intentionally puts so much on our plates that we cannot possibly handle it by ourselves? What if God intentionally strain hardens/cold works us so that all of our flaws group together, become readily apparent, and make us stronger? God seems to be doing this in my life, in this season, and I’m willing to bet he is doing the same to some of my readers. My friends - Through this season, we have been strain hardened; we have been hammered and compressed, our flaws have come together, we have learned how to surrender and rely on God, and God is working to make us stronger and more durable. Take hope in this, and know that there is a bright future ahead!2 Corinthians 4:8-10⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.