Pressure. I thought I knew what pressure meant. I mean, I've faced the threat of losing a child, I've suffered abuse at the hands of a spouse, I've gone through divorce and depression, I've raised four kids to adulthood, I've lost a parent, I've had to stand by and watch while one of my kids struggled with addiction, and so many other problems in my life.
...I have no idea what "pressure" is. Pressure is watching your husband go through losing fingers and the use of his hand, raising a special needs child, watching a home burn down, being rearended in your car by a driver who then runs away, going through another surgery with your husband who has to lose more of his hand. Pressure is finally getting money benefits from the workers' compensation insurance company only to have them stop-pay your checks and have the bank threaten to close your account and black-list you from ever opening another bank account anywhere, for the rest of your life. Pressure is not having the money to pay your electric bill, not to mention putting food on the table, and pressure is wondering how you're going to tell your kids they won't be getting any Christmas gifts this year.
Pressure is breaking your back on the job (literally), and waiting a year for the insurance company to agree to pay for your surgery. Pressure is then finding out that the surgeon used the wrong hardware on your spine, and you have to go through the entire torture of the surgery and recovery all over again, and it's going to take ANOTHER year of waiting to get it paid for by the insurance company. Pressure is losing your wife, your daughter, your home, your job, and your dignity in the process.
Without naming names or going into any other details, the above is just a sample of some of the pressure that a couple of my clients are under at the workers' compensation law firm where I work.
"Heidi, you're depressing me! What's your point?" I guess the point I was struggling to make is that throughout all the pressure of the scenarios I painted above, today I talked to the wife of the client who has lost several fingers. She is truly grace under pressure. I told her how she has inspired me because throughout all the hardships she and her husband have gone through, she thanks God for the BLESSINGS she has in her life. Blessings! Her husband can't work. The little money they have gotten from the insurance company was stopped, and they're facing losing their only bank account forever because of a mistake that they did not make. Their home burned down last year, at CHRISTMAS. And this lady is almost unvaryingly (is that a word, Bill?) cheerful and calm when she calls me with yet another tragedy unfolding at her door.
This amazing woman of God reminded me today that she IS blessed. She pointed out to me that she is not cursed; that sometimes bad things happen and she looks for the gifts in all of them. Oh, sweet Lord, has she had bad things happen! And she can still praise God and thank Him for all the troubles that are completely eclipsed by His love and mercy. Even in the midst of all that she and her husband have faced, she praises the Lord for His goodness, and she has encouraged and lifted the hearts of those around her.
Believing in the Gift of God that is Christ, who sacrificed Himself for our sin, doesn't mean that we're gonna be wearing white robes and playing harps all day long, at least not where I live, here on earth. Life is going to be tough. Life is going to be downright heartbreaking sometimes. Being a Christian does not shield us from this world in any sense. Nobody handed me a "get out of crap free" card when I became a child of God, and I'm betting you didn't get one either. It's all in how we look at things. You can look at all the hard things and ask why God lets these things happen, or you can look for God in all the tragedies of this world.
I don't know about you, but I'm under absolutely NO PRESSURE over here!
That's all I'm sayin'.
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