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When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.”  – Isaiah 43:2

Today, I am learning how to use a pressure cooker. I am using it because the beef we get here in Indonesia is tough and chewy. I hear that cooking under pressure will make it tender and juicy. My mouth is already watering at the prospect of having beef. We eat so much chicken here that I believe it is only a matter of time before we start sprouting feathers.

I watch the stove flame and listen to the pressure cooker heat up. The steam begins to make the top rattle. If there’s too much heat for too long, the top will shoot off creating an enormous mess all over the entire kitchen. A picture of beef dripping off the ceiling has me sitting close and watching carefully.

Hmmm. Pressure, heat, steam, a potential mess… I was beginning to see a parallel to my life overseas.

Life here can sometimes feel like that pressure cooker. The heat that makes life boil here sometimes includes difficult relationships with those I work alongside. Disrupting my unity with others seems to be Satan’s favorite tactic to distract me from the task at hand and from my walk with the Lord.

God desires to use the heat of those challenges to tenderize me, to make me dependent on Him and usable for His glory. I am thankful for the truth of His Word, that He walks with me through these times.

What is your “pressure cooker”? Photos courtesy of Debbie Klynstra.

What is your “pressure cooker”? His desire is to grow us no matter where in the world we live or how much “heat” we’re experiencing. Let’s keep a watchful eye on our “pressure cookers” and bring them to the Lord so He can keep our hearts tender, toward Him and others.