Under Pressure? Read this
On Tuesday I had a lumbar puncture where the doctor inserted a hollow needle into the space surrounding the spinal column in the lower back to withdraw some cerebrospinal fluid. The hope for this procedure was to lower the fluid pressure surrounding my head to below normal levels (without giving me a crazy spinal headache) and relieve my migraines. If this sounds like fun, you need your head examined (ha). It wasn’t fun, and I don’t think it worked. Which is mostly a big bummer.
Relieving pressure in other areas of life can be difficult to overcome as well. Maybe more so. Students talk about the pressures in school. Thanks to social media these anxieties have substantially increased over when I was in high school and college. Often in the workplace there is pressure to perform, sell or increase productivity. Even within our homes there can be pressure brought on by money issues, trauma, grief, poor communication and so many other factors. There isn’t a needle that a doctor can inject to bring relief in any of these situations.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about all the pressures the has endured. It’s a lot. Shipwrecks, beatings, starvation, hardships, many dangers and then he writes, “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:28). He had a lot on his plate in other words. Still he concludes, “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). It’s the same attitude that James encourages us to have when he writes, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2).
I’ve yet to counsel a person (or counsel myself for that matter) who is going through pressures and trials who “delight” in them as Paul tells or “considers them pure joy” like James. It’s tough. It stinks. We want to scream or escape or scream while we are escaping. Delight? Pure joy? Fat chance. When in the throes of such circumstances and troubles, is it possible to get to delighting or considering them joy?
Paul and James aren’t saying the situations are easy. Don’t hear that. Trials by definition are “trying.” They try or patience. Try our endurance. Try our attitudes. They can even try our Christianity. The only way to “delight” and experience “pure joy” is to step back and take a bird’s eye (heaven’s eye) approach. See things as God does. Are you still living and breathing? Praise the Lord! Have you managed to keep your attitudes Christ-like thus far? Praise the Lord! Do your friends see you as an example of faithfulness in trials? Praise the Lord! Will a health care provider, fellow student, co-worker, family member or someone else come to Jesus because of your model? Really praise the Lord! Is Jesus, who endured far more than you, getting the glory for your situation? Praise. The. Lord!
Trials aren’t fun. In my case, chronic pain stinks. But if someone, somewhere, somehow, in some way finds Jesus through it—then bring it on! I consider it pure joy! I will be delighting all the way to Glory with my new-in-faith friend!
If you want to read more about my Chronic Pain journey read this: https://www.amazon.com/Chronic-Pain-Finding-Midst-Suffering/dp/0834132257/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3B926J59O2SDN&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jocs3EQ9dvvvhGr1Is3mgg.Koms5WFgzLoxXnWgnwFCwKzrt4LIYt7cSlSGesuD3YA&dib_tag=se&keywords=rob+prince+chronic+pain&qid=1715856520&sprefix=rob+Prince+chronic+pain%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-1
If you want to read more about our journey with our cancer friend, read this: https://www.amazon.com/Got-Cancer-Theres-Help-Victory/dp/B0B7HBZYXL/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ZYGRTITO87H7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ioQtZRdY_5o2j6CYF1D4hh71Lp011q3OHYeTgoPXfqPGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.6TEFSqW9eWUwz5qwkmFxdCTviUwcEbyI4BxeZ1DhSPY&dib_tag=se&keywords=rob+prince+got+cancer&qid=1715856570&sprefix=rob+prince+got+cancer%2Caps%2C185&sr=8-1
