Sometimes we think we’ll get to a place where there’s no pressure, no people getting on our nerves, no traffic delays. We’re looking for a season when everything falls into place, there’s plenty of money in our bank account, we’re healthier than ever, and our children are making A’s. If we can just endure, we hope we’ll get to this utopia, this perfect place where we don’t have any more pressure. But the truth is that not all pressure is bad. There is healthy pressure. If you were comfortable all the time, you couldn’t reach your potential. If you didn’t face opposition and things you don’t understand that are not changing, you would never develop endurance, trust, and character. That pressure is getting you prepared. You have to face resistance to get stronger.
God will allow situations where we’re over our head, it’s taking longer than we thought, and we don’t know how it’s going to work out. He’s not making your life miserable; He’s providing opportunities to grow. That’s when you have to rely on Him. When you’re pressured, you learn to stretch your faith, to pray bold prayers, and to believe for what looks impossible. The pressure is causing you to get stronger. Quit fighting it and learn to embrace it. God wouldn’t have allowed it if He wasn’t using it to serve His purpose.
The apostle Paul says, “Let us rejoice in our trials, knowing that the pressure is producing unswerving endurance. Endurance develops maturity of character, and character produces joyful and confident expectations of God’s goodness” (Romans 5:3–4). Paul is saying, “If you see the pressure, the difficulties, and the setbacks the right way, if you stay full of joy and don’t get bitter, then that pressure is making you stronger. It’s doing something inside, getting you prepared for what God has in store.” God knows how to put on just the right amount of pressure so we don’t get complacent, we don’t put our faith on autopilot, but we keep stretching and growing.
Here’s the key: Pressure is going to produce either faith, hope, and endurance; or it’s going to produce discouragement, weakness, and “can’t do it.” My question is, What is the pressure producing in your life? Are you seeing it as negative, not fair, letting it defeat you? Have a new perspective. See it as healthy pressure. It’s there to help you grow, to stay fresh, to build your faith, and to release your potential. Keep doing the right thing when it’s hard, being at peace in the pressure, staying calm in the conflict. That pressure is about to launch you into a new level of your destiny.