Are You Hard Pressed Today?

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;

perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned;

struck down, but not destroyed.

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus,

so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (NIV)

Are you hard pressed today? Are you feeling perplexed about life and persecuted at work and at home? Do you feel struck down by the illness that is overwhelming your body?

It seems today that those kind of feelings are almost becoming common place for many, especially in the world we live in today. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring and one almost wants to sleep with one eye open.

My friend, today Father woke you up one more time for you to know that you are not defeated, that you are not alone. That doesn’t mean that you’ve never experienced loss, or that you’ve never failed, but it does mean that it’s not over and that today is a new day, a day for you to, in the midst of your circumstances realize that reality goes beyond what you can see and that as you begin to look at things from His perspective that it puts a new light on everything that you’re going through.

Scripture is a great example of seeing things from God’s perspective. We have the privilege of reading things after the fact, when in reality that is how God saw them all the time. God is not confined to time and space so everything is here and now in His eyes. Abraham could have felt defeated as he raised the knife, but God saw the ram. Job could have felt defeated as he scraped the boils off, but God saw the double portion of blessing in chapter 42. Mary could have felt defeated and crushed at the foot of the cross but God was already at the resurrection. Daniel could have felt defeated as the lions approached, but God was already telling the lions that a better meal was coming a bit later.

Whatever your present circumstances, my friend, whatever situation you find yourself in, the Holy Spirit wants to remind you as He did as He opened eyes of Elisha’s servant in 2 Kings 6:16-18, to remember that "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

Let’s praise Him together today and thank Him that He has already won for us and if God is for us, who or what can be against us? (Romans 8:31) And remember to pray for those who are going through the “storms of life” right now.

MJ