18th. May. 2020. Daily Devotion.
The Pressure Continues
It is not easy to accept without frustration the limitations we are under at present. May people are feeling it, some have been warned or fined by the police for very naturally wanting to enjoy the countryside around Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. Anything to relieve the pressure of being constantly at home. St Paul speaks of his being under pressure thus:
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favour granted us in answer to the prayers of many. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11
We were under great pressure. . . so that we despaired even of life. . . . But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
The pressure of difficult times makes us value life. Every time our life is spared and given back to us after a trial, it is like a new beginning. We better understand its value and thereby apply ourselves more effectively for God and for humankind. And the pressure we endure helps us to understand the trials of others, equipping us to help them and to sympathize with them.
Some people have a shallowness about them. With their superficial nature, they lightly take hold of a theory or a promise and then carelessly tell of their distrust of those who retreat from every trial. Yet a man or woman who has experienced great suffering will never do this. They are very tender and gentle, and understand what suffering really means. This is what Paul meant when he said, “Death is at work in us” (2 Cor. 4:12).
Trials and difficult times are needed to press us forward. They work in the way the fire in the hold of a mighty steamship provides the energy that moves the pistons, turns the engine, and propels the great vessel across the sea, even when facing the wind and the waves. A. B. Simpson To Walk in the Path.
Prayer
Dear Lord, I don’t know who or what will cross my path today. But I do know that You are my rock and my fortress. You are my shield and my strong tower. Help me to anchor myself to You today. Teach me how to stand strong in You and choose only Your way today. Help me walk by Your truth and not my feelings. Help me to embrace anything that comes my way as an opportunity to see You at work and as opportunity to point others to You. This I ask in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Prayer for Humility
Heavenly Father, who sent your Son to ride on an ass and to work as a simple carpenter: if you so humbled yourself to save me, how can I puff myself up with pride above others? Let me follow Christ’s example, never to inflate myself with pride of status, or opinion, or of any of the gifts you have bestowed upon me.
Give me the grace to realize my ignorance, admit my mistakes, recognize my needs. Let me welcome good advice and sound rebuke, without defensiveness. Grant me always to praise rather than criticize, sympathize rather than discourage, build rather than destroy, and when I am angry at the ignorance of another, to recall my own ignorance and remember that we are all your beloved children. Let my hope and glory be ever in you, and not in my own vanity. This I ask in Christ’s sake, Amen.
Meditation
“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.” ~ Martin Luther
Benediction
Now the God of patience and consolation grant to me, and to all who pray in the name of Christ, to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That we may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
