Dealing with Pressure (1 Peter 5)

In our second meeting of the season, Stephen Cassells joined us to bring a highly relevant message on dealing with the pressures of life, through the light of God's Word. Reading from 1 Peter, Stephen considered this letter of Peter as a 'handbook on coping with pressure', written to the Jewish believers who were facing death and persecution for their faith. Thinking upon the very different struggles facing believers today, Stephen suggested that there were, perhaps, 3 different ways to deal with difficulties in the Christian life. We could ENDURE them - grit your teeth, lift your head up and get on with your life. We could ESCAPE them - constantly running away from your troubles, rather than facing them. Or ENLIST them - Grab hold of the trial and rejoice in God's help through the difficulties, praising Him for the lessons you can learn through them. Many great characters of Scripture have been required to deal with huge pressures and struggles as a child of God. Ruth had to deal with great loss, yet God gave her strength to go forward with Him. Joseph faced deep sin and trouble in the land of Egypt, but God used him to bring hope to his people. Daniel and his 3 friends, removed from their familiar surroundings and Godly influences, took a stand for Him in that land, leading them experience the reality of His presence through the trials. But it was in the character of Peter that Stephen saw the most familiarity with the troubles of young Christians today. Peter loved the Lord. Peter was close to the Lord. Peter wanted to served the Lord. But time after time, Peter failed His Saviour. It seemed that each time Peter was faced with pressure, he crumbled under it. Yet each time, the Lord graciously and tenderly restored him in his walk with God. Likewise, it seems, we just keeping falling when we come under the pressures of life and of sin. So how do we overcome the pressures? How do we keep our eyes on the Lord so that we do not fall away from our relationship with God. First of all, we need to understand that the difficulties and trials of life are part of God's perfect plan for our lives - "...all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). Next, we must learn from the lessons of those who have gone before us. In chapter 5 of 1 Peter, the apostle passes on advice to believers facing the difficulties he had already come through. He reminded them of the need to SUBMIT TO ONE ANOTHER. We must be willing to learn from other, more mature, believers. We must respect the leadership of the church, as ordained by God and seek their guidance on the matters that trouble us. We must HUMBLE OURSELVES TO GOD. So often we approach God with our burdens, relate them all to Him in prayer, then pick them all up again. However, He asks that we leave our burdens with Him. He asks that they become His burdens, and no longer belong to us. Finally, in all of the pressures of life, the pressures of sin and the pressures of the Christian life, we must SUBMIT OURSELVES TO GOD. In everything we do, we must do it to the glory of God. It is when we truly experience what it is to be 'Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you' (1 Peter 5:7).