Pressure
“My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me” (Matthew 26:38).
Today is my last working day in paid employment. My office is on the south bank of the Humber Estuary and from my window I can see Hull’s city centre at the other side of the estuary. It was there I began my working life as an employee of the Hull City Council in 1966. I was told that, when I started work, I should let people know I was a Christian at the earliest opportunity. So I did. I have such happy memories of God’s goodness and blessing when we simply try to express our faith in Christ at work. For the past nine years, I have worked in nature conservation. There are lots of blow wells in our area. These are a type of groundwater spring, rarely found in the UK except for the coastal regions of Northern Lincolnshire. Rainfall forms chalk streams beneath marshes. These go under heavy clay when nearing the estuary, which places them under significant pressure. Where there is an opening in the clay from the chalk, the water is forced upwards, bubbling to the surface.
This natural process reminds me of the Christian pathway and those critical times when we come under severe pressure. At present the whole world is under enormous pressure and so are the lives of people everywhere. As Christians we can feel we have to cope with stress by ourselves and not be seen struggling as though our faith was weak. What has really impressed me of late is that the Lord never disguised the times when His soul was troubled. He did not hide His tears over Jerusalem or at the death of Lazarus. He allows us to witness the experiences He passed through. We benefit from seeing His incredible power to deal with every situation and at the same time how he felt the pain of those He healed.
But the most powerful example of the Lord under pressure is Gethsemane. The name means “olive press”. The richness and benefits of olive oil are only available to us because the olives are crushed. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord did not hide His desire for His friends to be with Him. In His agony of soul, we have a glimpse of the pressure the Saviour felt as Calvary approached. He said to Peter, James and John, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” We see Him fall on His face, and pray, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:36-39). We can speak in a matter-of-fact way about the will of God. But the Saviour never did. He had the power to accomplish God’s perfect will, but the cost was immense. And in the pressure of that experience, the Lord expressed the feelings of His heart to those close to Him. Then He fully expressed His heart to God the Father.
I believe the Lord’s experience guides us when we find ourselves under considerable pressure. The Lord does not want us to endure it alone. The Lord asked Peter, James and John to watch with Him, and it pained Him when they fell asleep. We need those who love us, and who we have confidence in, to be close to us at such times. And we need to be awake to the pressures faced by those we love. Above all, the Lord teaches us to bring our distress to our Father. The pressures of the tears and agony of Gethsemane were released in the simple words, “Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42). The weight of the cost of our salvation did not suppress the love, grace and mercy of God. Calvary was the place where all the love in the heart of God was released in all its majesty and power. Moses was instructed by God to take a tree and cast it into the bitter waters to make them sweet (Exodus 15:25). May we know the depth of the love of Christ and His presence in the intensity of the pressures, in all their forms, which we can face. And may we have the humility and confidence to receive the comfort and support of those who care for us, knowing they feel our pain in their hearts.
