The Pressure of Life

The Psalm for this thought is Psalm 23:3-4. It reminds us that God guides us, and even though we may walk a dark valley, the darkest valley sometimes, he is with us.

We have a saying at CVM, and I have tried to lead with this in lots of ways.

The saying is: "Let me dwell a pause." I have always taken this to mean, that in a moment of stress, difficulty, chaos, or pressure, I will remain calm, think, pray, and then act.

This can be the simple things in life, the moments that you feel pressured in or those quick-fire questions that require you to make a decision now, now. Even then, albeit done quickly, we can pause to think and pray.

I have had people rush at me and demand that I make a decision right then–"now…tell me now which way we go." In the past I caved, jumped at a decision, and regretted the outcome. The lesson I learned was to pause, pray, and create space to think and remember that God is available here. As the psalm reminds us, he will lead us in these moments.

For David, this Psalm also points to a deep moment of life and death, a valley that really needs God’s presence, and now!

I remember a moment in Brazil, we worked with Teen Challenge in Recife for a few years. On the beach one Sunday, with our family and small children I noticed a man with a gun get off his friend’s motorbike and walk towards us. Checking his surroundings, he made his way directly to us. I had a moment to dwell a pause, "Lord, help!"

Was this a valley of death? I can only know that as I found myself standing to my feet and positioning myself between this man and my family, I looked him in the face. I had nothing, just my presence standing there, and this had taken away his element of surprise. He stopped, looked at me, and ran towards the waiting motorbike.

God is available to us in the tiny moments or the deepest desperate valleys where we only have a moment to make a move. I think this practical faith living with Jesus sets us aside and marks as us different. We are not taken out of the world’s chaos, or life’s pain, and dark valleys. It is in them, with our feet deep in the water that we have the opportunity to display a trust, hope, and security the world is so desperate for.

Devotional Prayer

Jesus, I have felt this pressure in my life; it has clouded my mind and weighed me down. Help me to break through this fog and haze of pressure in life, to sit with you, to be still with you, and like a watchman, to wait on you.