The Hidden Treasures of Hard Places

Sometimes the pressures of life, our circumstances, are so intense that it's hard for us to see anything outside of our pressure cooker.

Yet it is the very place God has allowed us to see where our hearts and minds really are.

In the pressure cooker, we find out what we're made of. We find out what we run to. We find out who is with us and who is for us.

Jesus told Peter that Satan had been granted permission to sift him like wheat. But the Lord was praying for him, and when Peter turned back, he was to strengthen his brethren. (Luke 22:31–32)

Our pressure cooker may not be the result of anything we've done wrong, anything we need to repent of. But it is an opportunity to learn that the Lord is with us and that He is praying for us.

And when we emerge from the pressure cooker, we are to use what we've learned, use those experiences, to strengthen the brethren.

The pressure cooker, for me, has been intense lately. The heat has been turned up high!

And I've learned that no matter what, there is still a tenacity, steadfastness, and determination in my heart for the Lord. To be with Him, love Him, serve Him, walk with Him, talk with Him.

Whatever your pressure cooker looks like, God can use it to refine and reveal something in your heart that will look more like Him at the end of the process.

He wants you to know that He never leaves you nor forsakes you. Not just as a word. Not just as a promise. But as a reality!

The desire of His heart is for intimacy with you, and for you to trust Him intimately as well.

The pressure cooker isn't meant to harm you. He has a purpose and a plan for your life, to prosper you. (Jeremiah 29:11)

But maybe that's where steadfastness and tenacity become so important—trusting God through difficult times, even when we cannot see how His plan is unfolding.

Prosperity may not be a position where you're noticed.

Prosperity will be a deeper, richer relationship with Him.

I'm reminded of what Jesus said about doing something for the least of these. When we've done it for them, we've done it for Him. (Matthew 25:40) And so often, doing something for the least of these goes unnoticed. It's not spectacular. It's quiet.

Remember, the pressure cooker, the trials of life, are momentary and light compared to the eternal glory God is working in us. (2 Corinthians 4:17) And what could be more precious than knowing Him and His love?