A Nigerian couple serving in Kempton Park, South Africa gave me a set of mug on one of my visits to their place. Call that wonder mugs, if you please. Although they are black in colour, they have other pictures ingrained in them. The only time when these pictures show is when you put hot substance in the mugs. At that moment the colour changes and what is hidden comes to the surface. Things do manifest when the heat is on. This can tie up with Paul’s story. After they escaped the menace of the sea they got to an island called Malta. Because it was cold season Paul wanted to heat himself by making some fire. One of the sticks he gathered had a venomous viper inside it; but it was concealed until the heat of the fire forced it out.
Whatever is inside of you will have no hiding place when pressure mounts…Let your goal be that of becoming like Jesus.
Yesterday we learned that it is no use stressing ourselves or lashing out at people and things. Well, that advice will only work if we have taken care of the inside. Whatever is inside of you will have no hiding place when pressure mounts. In a sense pressure is not always bad, because they can give opportunity to assess what is the content of the heart. God’s word says the heart of man is wicked, and no man can know it. Don’t be surprised that you don’t even know the full content of your heart. So God will allow occasional pressure to force out things that are tucked in the corner of your heart. In case you don’t like what you exhibit when pressure comes, then let that become an opportunity to change. Let your goal be that of becoming like Jesus. He handled every pressure with the serenity of the Spirit. It is possible to come to a state where, like Paul, you can say, “none of these things move me”.
