The Backdrop of Impossibility

 

 

    

 

"We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;"  2 Cor 4:8(NKJV)

 

Stifling.  Suffocating. Sometimes the four walls of our life press so hard on us it feels like we will be utterly crushed in the process.  Anyone can handle a little financial hardship.  Job stress?  Common. Family problems- who doesn't have them?  Spiritual dryness- highly undesirable, but not unusual.  Put them all together and you will feel pressed! When life comes at you in all directions, you start to feel the weight of it.

 

 

I love that this passage shows that although we may be hard-pressed, we are not actually crushed. It may look like the crushing weight is hanging directly overhead, but the preserving hand of God keeps it at bay, not allowing us to be utterly decimated.  Often, we freak out at the threat of tragedy, rather than at actual tragedy.  How many times have we feared a dreaded fate that never came?  The enemy of your soul loves to torment you with "what could be..."   But we need to strive to live in the "what is." 

 

When I think of the deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egypt, I always marvel at the utter impossibility of it.  When God brought them to the boundary of the Red Sea, they were completely surrounded by certain death. Death by water or death by Egyptian army, either way, there was no hope.  No hope outside of God that is!  But God showed up, showed out, and led His people through!

 

God usually works his greatest miracle against the backdrop of impossibility.  Don't worry about your limits.  He is limitless.  Do not worry about your enemy.  He is already defeated! When trouble crowds on every side, look up! That is where your help comes from.

 

 

Dear Lord, I am fighting the suffocating feeling of being hard pressed on every side.  Arise, O God, and let my enemies be scattered.  Come quickly to save me. You are my only hope and help!  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

 

Sherri