Pressure

Preliminary:

I invite your attention to Mark 6

Have you ever been in a situation, you thought had to be handled supernaturally? It just won’t be fixed unless God intervenes? I’ve had a few of those.

I was reading about one from many years ago - back in the 1800’s

An educated, accomplished lady, reduced to the very lowest round of poverty’s ladder, whom we shall call Mrs. X., bears unfailing testimony to God’s hearing and answering the prayer of faith.

The daughter came upstairs one day to announce the utter emptiness of the larder. There was not even a piece of dry bread, nor a drawing of tea; not a potato, nor a bean ; and “Charles, poor fellow, will come home from his work at six, tired and so hungry; what shall we do, mother?”

“The Lord will send us something, before he comes,” said Mrs. X.

So, for three hours more the daughter waited.

“Mother, it is five o’clock, and the Lord has not sent us anything.”

“He will, my dear,

Before half-past six;” and the widow went in an adjoining room, to ask that her daughter might not feel it vain to call upon God.

In fifteen minutes, the door-bell rang violently, and a gentleman, valise in hand, said, “Mrs. X., I left the room which I hired of you one year ago, in a great hurry, you will remember; and I owed you five dollars. I have not been in the city since, and am rushing out of it again— jumped off the car just to give you this money. Good-bye.”

Sometimes I think God want’s to remind us and show us that He is in control by putting us in situations we can’t control

Mark 6:45 begins the narrative of a situation like that.

Let me ask another question - have you ever had a situation like that and God shows up —but it gets worse instead of better?

Sometimes it seems our church has been going through a situation like that -

We get broken into not once but three times

We have some people quit coming to our church

We have needed repairs, and then several other unexpected repairs come up -

Sometimes it seems like when God is working things are just getting worse.

Lets read about an incident in the Bible like that:

Mark 6:45–52 KJV 1900

45 And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. 46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. 47 And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. 48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. 49 But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: 50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. 51 And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. 52 For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.

I see a few principles that Jesus is wanting to teach us from this narrative -

Pressures Should Hone Our Perspective

Jesus has just preformed an amazing miracle - he multiplied food to feed a massive multitude. John’s version of this story indicates the people were so impressed with Jesus cooking and multiplication skills that they wanted to make him king by force. So he puts the disciples in a boat.

They left overs hardly had time to cool and Jesus constrained his disciples to get into the ship.

It doesn’t sound like Jesus was sweet talking to His disciples to go out in the boat either.

[in a sweet patronizing voice} “Peter, watch your step, come on lets go ahead and board the boat” “James, you coming...” “Come on John quit dawdling”

No it says “He constrained” that means compelled - it was an urgent need. He was probably pushing them in.

But as we talked earlier - things seem to get worse before they get better - I know real encouraging

We talk about being under pressure - these people were under pressure.

They were pushed into the pressure by Jesus Himself - and Jesus Himself faced his own pressure Alone on the land

These men in their pressure was toiling and rowing in a contrary wind

They were straining at the oars - any headway they were making was a painful headway

they were bucking the wind - the wind was against them

Maybe it was the long day and night, maybe it was the pressure of being pushed into the boat, maybe it was the straining at the oars, or maybe it was the fact of seeing someone walking on the water - but there came a pressure of fear

You know exhaustion can play havoc with our emotions

Pressures of life can alter our thinking and change how we view things

In the midst of their struggle and pain of pressure - Jesus comes to them - and instead of seeing the miracle for what it was - it adds pressure

Sometimes we are placed in high pressure situations - we go through the pressure cooker.

When Harland Sanders was 40, he was running a service station in Corbin, Kentucky. He had one table and would feed hungry travelers who would stop by. His specialty was of course fried chicken. His chicken was so good, that he was named an honorary Kentucky colonel by Governor Ruby Laffoon. This was an important step in the history of KFC.

Colonel Sanders had an inkling that he was onto something big. He moved his operation across the street to a larger filling station that he had purchased. Gone were the days of feeding hungry folks at his own table. His new operation boasted 6 tables.

The chicken continued to sell rapidly. The only thing standing between the Colonel and a booming business, was the size of his operation and the time it took to cook his chicken.

Sanders addressed the first issue in 1937 by expanding his restaurant to 142 seats. He also continued to focus on the weary traveler by adding a motel. He named it Sanders Court & Cafe.

That left the second issue. It currently took Colonel Sanders 35 minutes to fry up the chicken. He was staunchly old school. He pan fried all of his chicken. Deep frying would certainly make the process go much more quickly, but Sanders viewed deep fried chicken as inferior in quality to what he could produce. He was insanely obsessive with the quality of his product.

His obsession with quality ruled out cooking the chicken ahead of time as another viable solution. It was hard to get chicken cooked in advance to remain juicy and delicious. It was also hard to gauge demand on a day to day basis and cooking ahead led to chicken being thrown away at the end of the day.

The Rise of The Pressure Cooker

In 1939 pressure cookers started to come on the scene. They were designed to do simple tasks, like steaming vegetables. Sanders grabbed one and modified it to fry chicken. Essentially turning it into a pressure fryer. This dramatically reduced his 35 minute cook time and produced chicken that passed the Colonel’s strict standards for quality.

The pressure fryer has evolved through the years for KFC. Let me give you a quick run down. In a pressure fryer, food can hit 250 degrees Fahrenheit internally. Using the pan fry method, food will hit 215 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pressure cooking had its moment in the early 1940s. It was incredibly popular. When I think of pressure cooking today, I think of the ever popular instant pot. With an instant pot, there is a lot of technology that goes into ensuring it doesn’t explode from the pressure. In the 1940s, pressure cookers had no such safety mechanisms. They would literally blow up on people, causing serious injuries.

A pressure cooker is designed to handle temperatures around 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Adding oil to the equation can dramatically increase the temperature to around 320 degrees Fahrenheit. Of course by adding more heat you also will increase the pressure. This caused failure of the gaskets and, boom! Hot oil would then be spewed all over the kitchen. Early in the history of KFC, their fryers were not immune to this and in the early days a few cooks were injured by exploding cookers.

Thankfully for everyone involved, a few companies took on the challenge of producing a commercial grade pressure cooker that was suitable for frying.

When life feels like a pressure cooker - we can let the pressure build until we explode or cave in to the pressures or we can let it do its work on us making us into what Christ wants us to be

These men cry out in fear - they scream in terror

here some of them seasoned sailors and fishermen, men who had been in rough spots before - are in the pressure cooker and the pressure is building almost to the breaking point

But when Jesus heard them cry out and miss his intentions - the KJV puts the word “and” there I really think some of the other modern translations have it more clear when they say, “but immediately He spoke with them”

There was not only a calming effect of His presence on the winds and waves, but there was a calming effect on the disciples.

When they allowed the pressure to hone their perspective it allowed peace to reign.

Pressures of life should help us to look at things from the perspective that God is still God - Even when he sends us into the pressure.

Back in the 1930’s a man named Robert Likert developed the scale that we get asked about when we visit the doctor. “On a scale of 1 to 5 what is your pain?” Or “On a scale of 1 to 5 how depressed are you?” or some such question.

One has put a spin on the Likert scale when they asked, “How big is this problem on a scale of one to God?

Those who leave everything in GOd’s hand will eventually see God’s hand in everything

Not only do we see that when we allow the pressure to hone our perspective it allows peace to reign. We also see...

Turmoil should train our trust

God isn’t asking us to figure it out - God is asking us to trust HIM - He’s already figured it out.

We can’t, no matter how hard we try, we cannot grasp the mind of God - only what he reveals to us or allows us to see.

All they could see is that Jesus pushed them into this pressure, sent them in a boat out to a contrary wind, and then seemingly abandoned them while he stayed alone on the shore.

As I already said - the pressure was only building in intensity-

We often ask God to bring calm to our chaos - sometimes God wants to speak to us in our chaos

to call out to us - but we don’t get it, or don’t grasp what God is doing - we are living in the turmoil

We want the turmoil to stop - we want God to tame the turmoil

Biblical peace is not often a general tranquillity but rather a rightness at the center in the midst of much turmoil.

Dale Ralph Davis

We want God to tame the turmoil - but God wants to train our trust -

I’ve been chewing on something Oswald Chambers wrote, “God is not working towards a particular finish; His end is the process—that I see Him walking on the waves, no shore in sight, no success, no goal, just the absolute certainty that it is all right because I see Him walking on the sea. It is the process, not the end, which is glorifying to God.”

Storms Should Cause us to Listen for the Stillness

Elijah had ran to the cave in desperation and depression - He waited for God to speak to Him - and the wind blew, so strong but when it stilled there was no stillness in his heart - the earth shook - there was fire and smoke - but none of it brought that voice and stillness he was listening for. Then he heard it - The still small voice -

Be mindful that God often chooses to communicate his most profound truths in the midst of a crisis. Don't become preoccupied during turbulent moments by fixing your gaze on the circumstances. Rather, be watchful lest you miss a divine visitation during those tumultuous moments (Mark 6:47–52). There is no shortcut to intimacy with God. It takes time and many experiences with him as he teaches you and guides you in his ways (Ps. 25). 11 Henry & Richard Blackaby. (2002). Hearing God’s Voice. B&H Books.

Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes Silence

In the silences I make in midst of the turmoil of life I have an appointment with God. From these silences I come forth with spirit refreshed, and with a renewed sense of power. I hear a Voice in the silences, and become increasingly aware that it is the Voice of God. O how comfortable is a little glimpse of God!

—David Brainerd, quoted in Charles R. Swindoll, The Finishing Touch