Press

 Every now and again God gives me a word or a phrase that flutters about in my head and heart until I am able to write it in actual words. This week that word has been "press".

Now, maybe it is because Jeremy and I recently received a Bodum French Press Coffee Maker as a wedding gift off of one of our registries, or maybe it is because I keep telling myself to "press onward and upward" like a dutiful soldier with a cathedral length veil, about to attend the war of the 3 weeks before her wedding and all that entails. Whatever the reason, I must surrender to the writer within in order to do something productive with this ear worm of a word.

Have you ever had French press coffee? For the coffee lover, it's really a treat. It takes extra time, as you have to grind the beans, heat the water and let it brew before you apply the pressure which produces liquid gold that is actually more of a bronze color. There is a distinctly better taste that the longer process produces than the instant gratification of a Keurig maker or a typical coffee maker. Pressure+time= something that is worth it.

And then there is the type of press that is involved in covering a whole 9x13 pan with one tube of biscuits. You have to pull the pieces apart and press them into every nook and cranny the best you can so that you can create an even crust. Sometimes you just have to press things as hard as you can to cover any gaps and holes. This can be time, sanity, patience or biscuit dough, just to name a few.

"Pressing forward" is what we all need to do in order to survive. Life comes at us with all kinds of blows, surprises and exhaustion that can make it hard to keep doing the "next right thing" that comes our way. The pressure can be so intense at times that the only thing we can imagine pressing is our head to a posture pedic pillow.

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down, but not destroyed."- 2nd Corinthians 4:8-9

As a child of Christ, we will never be crushed, though sometimes it may feel that everything is crushed into a million pieces; your heart, your finances, your health, your relationships. Our eternal life in Christ ensures us that even if our bones are physically crushed, our soul can never be destroyed. There is no amount of earthly pressure that will crush us, and what is pressed down to near pieces produces French press coffee quality because of Gods goodness and grace.

So friends, press. Press forward, press down, and press into Jesus. Let Him use all the pressure it takes and trust Him in process.