But today, I just read the Proverb of the day, number 24.
In verse 10, Solomon says, "If you fail under pressure, your strength is not very great."
Immediately my mind went back to high school basketball and my coach, Craig Ellingson. He was by far my best coach of any sport as he strived to develop us girls to be complete young ladies. He constantly put us under pressure situations and encouraged us to embrace adversity.
Pressure. It either makes you great, or it makes you fail. There are two ways to view pressure. You can view it as an opportunity to succeed or the likelihood of failing. For the great, pressure is embraced whereas for the mediocre, it is feared. Pressure causes the great to become calm, focused and better. It causes the mediocre to become hesitant, frantic and worse.
I can think of situations in my life where I've invited pressure and other times I've feared it. For example, the months leading up to my wedding. I was taking my heaviest load of classes at OSU, 18 credits, with 2 of my 6 classes being Physics classes. I was working 2 jobs and doing a practicum, so basically 3 jobs. And I was planning our wedding. If you have planned a wedding, you know that it is not just like planning a party - the details seem endless. I remember in the two weeks before my wedding, my literal minutes were planned, and I stuck with my agenda. The pressure made me better. In fact I got a B in one of my Physics and an A in the other!
This is contrary to my actual wedding day, when I was so nervous, fearful and frantic that I couldn't think straight. Somehow I thought I could do my own hair and that of my bridesmaids...not so much. Thanks to my friend Jane, my hair wasn't a disaster. It wasn't my most "on" day. I feared the pressure and I became hesitant and frantic. Thankfully I succeeding in saying my "I dos".
God has told me that in Jesus, I am more than a conqueror. He desires in me a trust in Him that eminates confidence in my present circumstance. I believe the wise are those who embrace pressure and upon its arrival become calm and focused and better.
I desire that in all areas of my life but succeed at maybe 10%. But may the Lord grow in each of us the wisdom and the strength to embrace pressure; for it to press us into the brilliant gem that he made us to be.
