We hear a lot today about the evils of pressure. Pressures are inevitable and are not necessarily bad. Our blood pressure rises when we exercise and reduces when we are at rest. The only people with no blood pressure at all are dead. Rather than think of the pressure in our life as bad, we should instead thank God that we have pressure, for it means that we are alive, and it helps us to rise to the occasion. The goal is to keep the right balance, just as we need to balance our blood pressure so that it is not too high and not too low.

A trouble-free life is impossible to imagine and would not be healthy. People who feel no pressure at all in their lives are out of tune with the world. The absence of stress would not be good, just as weightlessness is not good. It is the weight of the air in our atmosphere that exerts pressure on us to keep gases dissolved in our blood. Pressure on our bones keeps them strong. Tension against muscles keeps them toned, flexible and strong. We need pressure, just as the violin needs to have tight strings, not too tight but just right.

Violin strings and violin bows are loosened when not in use so that they will be ready for action again when it comes time to play the tune. If only we could learn the wisdom of the violin and apply it to our own lives, we would also be better prepared to make sweet music at the right time. It is the way in which we compensate for or cope with the pressures of life that determines whether stress will be destructive or exhilarating. Our attitude is key; we need to maintain a sense of balance in dealing with stress -- not too much, not too little, and don’t sustain the pressure when it is not needed.

Paul talked about the pressures of life that he faced: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.”

So Paul felt such great pressure that he was almost to the point of snapping, but he tells us he learned not to rely on himself, but on God. The good news is that God delivered him and he will deliver us. This is the lesson we learn about godly pressure. Yes, we will have it, but God is faithful who will not stretch us beyond that which we are able to bear. God does not want us to snap; He wants us to be able to make beautiful music, so He is fine tuning us. In Hebrews we are told, “And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,’ because the Lord disciplines those he loves.”

We should endure hardship as discipline; because God is treating us as sons. What son is not disciplined by his father? No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. When Paul understood this principle he actually thanked God for his troubles. He said, “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” So we join with Paul in thanking God for the pressures of life that are fine-tuning us for the kingdom. Even of the Lord Jesus Christ we are told, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.”

May we accept the pressures of life with grace and cry out with Paul, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”