Pressed down, but not crushed.

Two men met to transact some business in wartime.  The one was full of how the train in which he had travelled had been attacked from the air.  He would not stop talking about the excitement, the danger, and the narrow escape.  The other man, in the end, said quietly—‘Well, let’s get on with our business now.  I’d like to get away fairly early because my house was demolished by a bomb last night.’1  Isn’t it funny how some people like to wax long about their oh, so dramatic trial?  Others then, like the second fellow, bear up differently. 

Paul wanted to be straight up with the Corinthian believers about the terrible experience he had faced: “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.  Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.”  2 Corinthians 1.8-11

Paul does not sugarcoat things.  Unlike many of today’s preachers who want to focus on the ‘God wants you to prosper’ message of the Gospel, Paul informs the folks that being a Christian is not always easy—not the smoothest road.  He does not mince words about the fact that it was God who had delivered them from the hands of their enemies, and if they were to survive a time of intense persecution of believers of The Way, then it would only be because God delivered them.  Paul further acknowledges the sustaining power of the prayers of the people. 

He also saw himself as a tool in his Master’s hand, and allowed God to use him to comfort others.  God helps his children comfort and encourage as an extension of his own compassion.  Psalm 199.156 says his compassion is great; James 5.11 says the Lord is full of mercy and compassion.  Aren’t you glad?

In this passage, Paul said ‘we were burdened beyond measure’; another version says ‘we were excessively weighted down till it was beyond bearing’ . . . these phrases along with ‘we are undergoing affliction’ are derived from the Greek word Paul used: thlipsis.  In ordinary Greek, this word always describes actual physical pressure on someone.  The nineteeth-century Archbishop of Dublin wrote:

‘When, according to the ancient law of England, those who willfully refused to plead had heavy weights placed on their breasts, and were so pressed and crushed to death . . . this was literally thlipsis.’2

So vivid a picture, isn’t it? 

‘Crushed by the weight of an unbearable burden . . . hmmm.  Have you ever been there?  I have.  The pain is so intense it feels like it might take your breath away.  In my experience, it is usually a circumstance beyond what you can control.

It is then . . . when you can affect no outcome,

         It is then . . . when you are least in control . . .

                  that you can run to God.

And, it is then, He is most able.

It is then when friends can comfort you best with their faithful, fervent, and unceasing prayers on your behalf.  You see, when hemmed in by difficult situations, you have the opportunity to look up; I pray that will be your response.

Indeed, it is then that you will be pressed down, but not crushed.

Christine