Equal and Opposite Pressure
Bathyspheres are special deep water chambers which are designed to cope with the extreme pressure at the ocean's depths. Encased in extra thick cast steel, they hold at bay the pressure that bears against them. The fish that swim just outside the portals of these vessels are not steel plated, yet they swim about carefree, completely at ease in their pressure filled environment. How do they do it? Their anatomy is fashioned to apply equal and opposite pressure from within! Their exteriors are soft and pliable, but their inward parts are tough as steel.
When life begins bearing down on us, it's easy to put on a hard exterior in order to hold the pressures and stresses at bay. But the Christian needn't become cynical or "hard" to cope with the world. Like the fish of the deep, we possess a power from within, which is able to match and equalize the opposing pressures from without.
The Apostle John put it this way, ". . . greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world" (1John 4:4). In other words, whatever the pressures maybe on the outside, the believer has a greater power residing within.
Illustration Exchange
Seek But Don't Find
“Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.”
[Andre Gide (1869 – 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947.]
So, according to this philosophy, we're allowed to search for the truth but we're not permitted to find it? Jesus set a different expectation, “Seek and you WILL find.”
In a world full of blind men, it’s only those who see who are ridiculed.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7).
Be It Resolved, No Complaining Allowed
Washington — Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.) wanted people to stop complaining for a day and count their blessings.
What he got was just more complaints. …
What became instant fodder for the Web, talk radio, podcasts and even the old-fashioned nightly news started innocently enough.
Cleaver offered legislation in June to set aside the day before Thanksgiving as "Complaint-Free Wednesday." …
The bill encouraged "people to look forward, not backward," Cleaver said in a letter to House colleagues seeking support, a "meaningful and powerful reminder to prepare for a day of gratitude."
Cleaver sent a letter to his colleagues in Congress asking them to consider co-sponsoring his proposed resolution. It said, in part:
“From time to time, we all experience anxiety, frustration, stress, and regret. And often, we respond to these feelings with a criticism or a complaint. Regrettably, complaining keeps people stuck on current problems, inhibiting them from thinking constructively to find solutions. Research has also shown that complaining can be harmful to one’s emotional and physical health; relationships; and can limit professional career success. ...
“This timely and constructive (and revenue neutral) resolution would reaffirm the meaning of Thanksgiving by designating the Wednesday before as Complaint Free Wednesday. Surely Complaint Free Wednesday will be a meaningful and powerful reminder to prepare for a day of gratitude.”
Sadly, his proposal was met primarily (and ironically) with cynicism, criticism, and yes--complaint.
It's hard to offer praise when our mouths are full of grumblings and complaint. Christians would do well to take a page out of Representative Cleaver's congressional playbook and take a break from complaining in preparation for a day of thanksgiving. Consider it a cleansing of the spiritual pallet before receiving the bounty of the Thanksgiving feast.
"Do all things without grumbling or disputing" (Philippians 2:14, NASB).