This week's devotional post here on the blog comes from Aaron Schwartz, who wrote this article as an assignment in one of my undergrad theology courses.
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Under Pressure
by Aaron Schwartz
We will never escape the force of pressure
while on this earth. As a science major, I often think of pressure in the form
of pounds per square inch or kilopascals, but pressure actually is all around us
in many forms. Not just pressure from the weight of the air
around us. Also pressure from our peers. Pressure to perform well in music or drama or sports. Pressures from work. Pressure from parents or
siblings. The list goes on and on.
As a
college student, I think that these pressures are just the beginning of my
stress. For me, further pressures include student loans, licensure tests,
clinical experiences, student teaching, working 20-25 hours at a local gas
station, homework load, and more. There comes a point when it is not possible
to pinpoint all the individual pressures, but I know the overall feeling of pressure
is real.
We feel these pressures from an
early age and they greatly affect us. They pull us down into the dumps. They
seem to hit us when we least expect it. We cannot seem to shake them off on our
own, but that does not keep us from trying. We look for different ways to cope
with pressure and stress. Some coping mechanisms may be healthy ones like
playing intramurals with friends or going out to late-night appetizers and
drinks with a significant other. However, quite often we cope in unhealthy ways
-- drinking too much to get away from life’s troubles or depriving our bodies
of sleep in order to get just a little more work accomplished.
Whether in Madison, Wisconsin,
Tucson, Arizona, or New Ulm, Minnesota, the pressures of life are constant and
stressful. College students are college students regardless of where they go to
school. The type and strength of temptations may vary, but every college that I
know of is still found in the world – and this world is full of evil and
temptation. It’s a world that has everything we as sinners want and think we
need.
In a world filled with greed, lust, desire,
jealousy and laziness, the pressure to conform and be of the world is
significant. And the pressure continues
to build. Forgetting to attend worship
for a week seems fine. But then it becomes
a month … and then we start forgetting about the purpose of our worship altogether.
We forget about God’s promise to provide
for all of our needs, physically and spiritually. And we make decisions and choices that deny
our Lord.
We need to be reminded that Christ’s
kingdom is not of this world, and we are aliens on this earth. The pressures we
put on ourselves, or those caused by parents or friends to complete school, start
our careers, get that dream job, start a family – all now, now, now -- all are
really pressures of life that is of this world. When this sort of pressure grows
too great and we are struggling to cope with the pressure, we look to Christ,
who assures us, “But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Christ has overcome and conquered
this world. He didn’t just win a little prize or a game. He crushed Satan and
defeated death for all people. The sins of everyone -- every person in college,
every person in your town, every person everywhere on earth – all sins have
been taken away by Christ. He lived a perfect
life in our place. Through faith in Christ, salvation has been given to us
freely by grace alone. We are able to look past the pressures of this life,
past the pressures of this world, to the peace of eternal life. We do not look
past the pressure because we are able to do enough to cope, but because the
pressure to be perfect has been taken off our shoulders. Christ’s robe of
righteousness and his crown of glory have replaced that pressure for us.
Just because we have the gift of eternal
life does not mean our earthly lives will be free from all pressure. Jesus told
us this also. Before assuing us, “Take
heart! I have overcome the world,” Jesus said, "I have told you these
things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble”
(John 16:33). Our earthly pilgrimage is
not about living a stress-free, pressure-less life. "We must go through many hardships to
enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). However,
it is the reaction to these hardships and pressures that makes all the
difference. Keeping Christ as our focus, we live our lives out of thankfulness
for all he has done for us. Faithfully doing our tasks as students, working hard
on the job, and any other challenging aspects of this world become easier
because of all God has done for us. And
while we live out our lives here on earth, we eagerly share the word of God
with others who are under the pressure of this world and need the assurance of
Christ – that he has overcome the world for us.
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