Pressed, But Not Crushed - Word before World

Pressed, but Not Crushed

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9, NLT

Tucked inside the pages of old books and Bibles on my bookshelf, you’ll find the pressings of flowers I’ve grown or received over the years. When I’m feeling sentimental, I like to peruse the pages and recall memories preserved in time. I’ve collected small flower pressings from travels, including a tiny white flower from the Garden of Gethsemane and precious wildflowers my boys have plucked from our yard and given to me as gifts. When the petals are pressed between the pages of heavy-duty books, the constant pressure preserves their features and can make them even more beautiful.

After years of collecting flower pressings, I recently arranged some of them between two sheets of glass to hang on the wall of our daughter’s room. Each time I pass this piece of art, I’m reminded of God’s faithfulness and tender care. He does not crush his loved ones; he presses and preserves us for his glory and our good (see Romans 8:28).

The apostle Paul was well acquainted with affliction. Prior to becoming a Christ-follower, he fiercely persecuted the church. After coming to Christ, Paul found himself on the receiving end of the persecution he’d once carried out.

In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul reminded believers of the precious, incalculable treasure they held within them: the gospel of Jesus Christ (see 2 Corinthians 4:7-10). He likened their bodies to jars of clay—frail, fragile, temporary, made from dust. At the same time, he reminded them that these jars of clay possess the hope of Jesus, which would preserve them through the sufferings they’d inevitably face as Christians.

Tucked inside this passage, Paul writes these famous words: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). The word afflicted more literally means “pressed.”a Like the flowers I collect and preserve between the pages of my books, we, too, are pressed on all sides yet not crushed. The pressing affliction is for our preservation, our good, and God’s glory.

Are you facing a pressing trial right now? Do you feel surrounded by difficulty, assaults from the enemy, and fiery arrows of doubt? Press onward through your Savior, who was pressed on all sides on the cross. Through his death, he destroyed the power of death (see Hebrews 2:14). Through his resurrection, he is now preparing an eternal home for us in heaven (see John 14:23). And one day he will crush Satan once and for all (see Romans 16:20).

When you are pressed on all sides, have courage, because you are being preserved by your Father in heaven. As Paul goes on to say, “We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

We are pressed, but not crushed. Preserved, but not forsaken. Take heart, because God is creating a beautiful work of art out of these trials in your life.

Word before World Trials will press your faith, but God will preserve you through it all.

Grow in Grace When you are pressed on all sides, don’t lose heart! Fix your eyes on the things of heaven, remembering Christ, who was pressed for you and who gives you victory.

a [1] “Strong’s #2346— thlíbō,” Old and New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary, StudyLight.org, https://www.studylight.org/lexicons/eng/greek/2346.html.

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Word before World
By Gretchen Saffles
Tyndale
$7.99

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