Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
9 16 2024
“The Blessing is in the Squeeze”
There is much happening in my family’s lives these days. Perhaps you can be encouraged by the word the Lord gave me Sunday and the insight of faith he shared with me.
“What is it, my child, that is burdening you? Even in the middle of the mess, I AM your refuge and your rock! Did you not know that “The blessing is in the squeeze: I have saved you from the worst of it. I am that single set of footprints in the sand carrying you. STOP. Struggling in my arms, I have you. I have protected you from the worst. Offer up the sacrifice of praise. Offer up what cost you something. This will be OK – trust me. I’m holding you up. Stop wrestling with my angel who is with you always. I love you. I’ve got you. I’ve got your situation, learn to trust in me, and then you’ll find rest for your soul.
For my grace is sufficient”.
What is it that is squeezing you this month or this year? What is it that has ahold of you like a pit bull in a fight for life? What is it that is stealing your joy…Your Peace…and even your faith to see that God is in control of this. How far will you walk before giving it over to God? Or, if you are like me, How many times have you given it over and taken it back? His word is clear today, that He meets us in the squeeze. Financially, physically, relationally, spiritually…In every way.
The Spiritual heart is not so different than the human heart. Are you able to make your heart beat?
Do you control its health? Just like our spiritual heart.
You can’t make it beat by your good deeds, serving at church or even being a good moral person. I had open heart and triple bypass surgery on Sept 13th, one year ago. A skilled surgeon went inside my chest; they hooked up something to keep my heart beating as they transplanted 3 feet of arteries harvested from my arm and leg to help my heart beat again. He removed much of what was blocking the life flow. He cut out the junk and self-indulging living I had enjoyed for years…even a lifetime.
It took a skilled surgeon to clean up the mess that threatened to take my life.
It takes the loving hands of a Spiritual Father to go deep into our hearts in similar ways.
He squeezes us through life’s situations. Money, love, testings of every kind come our way. Why?
So that through those tests, He can squeeze out the impurities of life. The compromises of daily living. The cultural thinking that has stolen the very character and moral fiber of our families. All in the face of inclusion. Make sure you’re not judging the obvious perversions that surround all of us like a cloud.
What comes out of the inside when we are squeezed? You know the answer. Whatever is on the inside. The Fruit of our lives. He said in Matt 7:15-20 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits”.
They will know us the same way!
What are the dangers of being squeezed…or perhaps better said, what are the benefits of being squeezed? I think it has a lot to do with how you view it.
Something or Someone is putting pressure on you. God sends stresses not to get back at us for doing wrong, but to deepen our dependence on Him in order to do right. A Father disciplines his children for their good. God the Father uses it so we can share in his holiness.
Paul felt a daily pressure of concern for all the churches and that kept him praying without ceasing (2 Corinthians 11:28; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). The press of adversity and affliction called for the exercising of faith, the one thing without which we will never please God (Hebrews 11:6). A good father, gives his children instruction…He nurtures them… and at times, he admonitions them by using his word. He tells us openly, and without ambiguity, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7
The Blessings that come from the Squeezing? How about losing the clogged spiritual arteries on the inside. anger, hatred, bitterness, tension, depression, or anxiety. How about unforgiveness of yourself and others, or jealousy, and vulgarity?
What does he tell us in the story of the potter and the clay or, even better, in Proverbs 25: 4-5? It speaks of the process of removing impurities from silver to removing the wicked or the dross so the Master has the material fit to be a vessel of the King’s usage… for the king’s presence: As the fire heats us, the squeeze is on, and the impurities rise to the surface and are removed, leaving pure silver. For us spiritually, it removes the impurities we have discussed so that the Kingdom of Christ and his righteousness will be established. When God the Father “fashions” a heart, he “squeezes” it into shape.
My lovely and kind wife, Dyan, has had 4 surgeries this year and is home now, unable to have any weight on her right leg for 6 weeks. It is completely debilitating. My daughter Danielle was thrown from her horse Wednesday and broke her left ankle and tore up her right knee, and she is completely unable to put weight on either foot. I have been asking: What are you trying to tell us, Lord?
I pray for protection over my family daily. Yet here I am. Here we are! I know that being squeezed is not this loving Daddy hug but one that is more of a cleansing squeeze. Like squeezing that sponge out after you washed the car to get all the soap out. All of the impurities and dirt out.
I think a lot of people during Covid thought of how much self-improvement and more family communication they could get done, but the time flew by, and for many, nothing changed very much.
I believe there is a danger in our squeezing that could happen here too.
Often we just complain and grumble about our misfortune when God does have things for us to learn and become. But you must ask for that. You must seek out the pearl of great price. It is not laid out for anyone to just bend down and become rich through it.
It takes intentionality, prayer, humility and time in God’s presence. I am learning that if I am to expand in my faith and grow deeper in my walk with God, I must be willing to feel the burden of being rinsed…Of allowing the dross to be skimmed off, so there is room for growth. Like that sponge we are ready to absorb when we are dry. Sometimes, it isn’t that we are filled with the filth of our daily lives, but it could be what we have is a staleness in our walking with God, and He is not satisfied with lukewarm or mediocrity. God’s sanctification is not pleasant at times, but it can always be joyful.
Joyful because the more he rinse us in His Grace the more we become like him…or not.
He wants that dross removed so that we crave more of His Holiness, not just attend church on Sunday and cry out when we fall down. We come to the place where we run from the old ways and jump into his hand of discipline that shapes us into his image.
Hebrews 12:4-11
4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
