HARD PRESSED BUT NOT CRUSHED!

Are you hard-pressed with the anxiety or feelings of betrayal? Are you facing envy or hatred? Barrenness? Are you being accused falsely? Are you surrounded by gossip mongers? 

---

The feeling of being hard-pressed, crushed from all sides is most unbearable & heart- rending. Through the Bible, the ones that were over-comers were the ones that were hard-pressed but not crushed.   Rejoice in the Lord amidst affliction, loneliness and rejection. Psalms 66:12- You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.

Never give in! You have a hope in CHRIST JESUS!

Triumph before suffering

ISAIAH 52:13-15– …….See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

The above verse is in context with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. His Glorious Triumph is announced before His suffering! (V.13b).  Your Triumph, God foreknew before you carried your cross, that hard pressed experience.. (Matthew 16:24)

As the song goes by Andraé Crouch goes….

“I’ve had many tears and sorrow | I’ve had questions for tomorrow| There have been times I didn’t know right from wrong| But in every situation| God gave me blessed consolation…

That my trials come to only make me strong!

See through the Bible

1. Our Lord Jesus Christ- the Cross before the Crown!

He was marred beyond recognition & when He appeared Triumphant, the Kings had to shut their mouths (Revelation 1:18). Isaiah 52:3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Jesus would usually depart to the Mount of Olives to pray in isolation (Luke 22:39). He had a heart-rending experience in the Garden of Gethsemane,¹ where He asked Father God, “Take this cup from me, yet not my will, but your will” (Mark 14:36).

Isaiah 53:5- But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. To preserve our Spirit, Soul & Body to appear blameless at His Second coming, His Word & The oil (The Holy Spirit) was poured in our inner being , as seal to mark us for the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13).

2. Joseph from the Pit, to the Prison, to the Palace!

Genesis 41:44- And Pharaoh said to him, “I am Pharaoh, but no one will lift a hand or foot in the entire land of Egypt without your approval.”

Joseph was pressed not crushed. Loved by Father. Envied by his brothers for the dreams. Potiphar’s house. Prison. Forgotten by the cupbearer. Finally exalted at the due time!

3. David – Shepherd boy, forsaken, ridiculed, exalted as King of Israel!

2 Samuel 5:12 – Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

David forsaken by almost everyone including his Parents (Psalms 27:10), Brothers. David had a harp for King Saul in return Saul had a spear for David. Finally exalted at the due time!

4. Hannah despised as barren, turned to be fruitful

Hannah was despised by Peninnah, as God had shut Hannah’s womb. When God blessed her, she had a song to sing, which the one that despised her couldn’t have sung (1 Samuel 2).

When you go through a path of rejection, being forsaken understand you are not forgotten. You are hard-pressed like the Olive?  but not crushed beyond the hope! remember, God knows your victory but allows you to go through that heart-rending process so as to exalt you & that through this experience, His name may be glorified through your life. (Romans 8:18– Our present suffering is not worth comparing to the glory that is yet to revealed).  It’s to preserve your Spirit, Soul & Body for your eternal home. Praise God!

“When people hurt you over and over, think of them like sandpaper. They may scratch and hurt you a bit, but in the end, you end up polished and they end up useless.” ― Andy Biersack

Let’s Pray! Our Loving Heavenly Father, we come to your throne of mercy through your Son and our Savior Lord Jesus Christ. Bring about a healing that is needed within me, to cover up my scars and heal my wounds. Every experience that I encounter at the moment, I do understand it’s to bring out the best within me. I praise you for that.

In Jesus precious name, I pray! – Amen.

1. The name Gethsemane (In Hebrew “gat shemanim”, means “oil press”) suggests that the garden was a grove of olive trees with an olive press.  Olives, in order to be preserved for a longer duration are pressed, oil extracted and preserved. ↩︎