Pressed On All Sides

"I was crushed...so much so that I despaired even of life, but that was to make me rely not on myself, but on the God who raises the dead" (2 Cor. 1:8, 9).

"Pressed out of measure and pressed to all length;

Pressed so intensely it seems, beyond strength;

Pressed in the body and pressed in the soul,

Pressed in the mind till the dark surges roll.

Pressure by foes, and a pressure from friends.

Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends.

"Pressed into knowing no helper but God;

Pressed into loving the staff and the rod.

Pressed into liberty where nothing clings;

Pressed into faith for impossible things.

Pressed into living a life in the Lord,

Pressed into living a Christ-life outpoured."

~ Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

Reading this poem was like looking at a reflection in a newly polished mirror. It so clearly echoed back the sigh of my soul. But nothing worth having, worth being, worth feeling comes without some squeezing, molding and modifying. There would be no fragrant wine, there would be no polished gold, there would be no exquisite glass without the pressure, the buffing, the fire. How amazing to be loved by God enough that He wants to see us sparkle and shine with brilliant colours and dazzling beauty. He knows us. He holds us. He works us until the spark within lights the world around us and illuminates the shadows.