When Pressure Arrives, How Should a Christian Respond?

The words of Paul tell us that pressure is going to come, but the promise also says no matter how great the pressure, we will survive it.

By Luke Holmes

The Finnish YouTube channel “Hydraulic Press Channel” is not on the top of the ranks for followers, but it might be one of the simplest concepts for a YouTube channel out there and has more than 3 million subscribers.

Every video starts with high octane music and then a still shot of a hydraulic press and some materials. Then the goal for the day is simply explained. Things will be crushed. It might be pieces of metal, a bowling ball, a bag of skittles, or almost anything else you can imagine. The press is turned on and you watch as the pressure become so great that the object is destroyed, deformed, or even decapitated in the case of ceramic figurines. With almost 600 million views across their channel, it’s proven to be popular among a wide audience.

In just over four years, fear has risen to the top of what most Americans want to avoid. Share on X

Everyone knows the feeling of pressure, that experience of being pressed down on from all sides until it feels like we can’t take it anymore. Perhaps that’s why so many have felt catharsis watching these videos. Stress, anxiety, and fear are universal human emotions that everyone can identify with. A recent Lifeway Research study found that fear was the emotion most people sought to avoid at 41%. This was a change from 2016 when shame was the top emotion people tried to avoid at 38%. In that same study, fear came in last (30%). In just over four years, fear has risen to the top of what most Americans want to avoid.

The Pressures of Life

Given what has taken place since 2016, and even just the last year and a half, it’s not surprising that fear ranks so highly in the Lifeway Research study. Since then, issues like COVID-19, social unrest, and politics have led many people to be afraid. The worry and stress that fear brings can seem to be crushing at times, and many people wonder how long it will be till they crack like an item under a hydraulic press. 

Christians are not immune from any of these pressures. Leading churches, families, ministries, schools, and businesses during a pandemic can create so much fear and worry about the unknown. Add to that the pressures of staying within the political boundaries that others have set up for you, and it all seems like too much. Thankfully, Christians have Scripture to turn to that calms our mind right at the moments when fear seems the greatest.  

Paul’s Encouragement 

The Apostle Paul wrote about how pressures and trials come against believers in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10: We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. 

The words of Paul tell us that pressure is going to come, but the promise also says no matter how great the pressure, we will survive it. Given the state of the world we live in right now, this is good news! Pressures seem to be increasing on every side. Pastors feel pressure leading churches, just as parents feel it raising children. No one is immune from the increasing pressure, anxiety, and worry that fills our world. Bankers, teachers, farmers, parents, students of all ages, scientists, accountants—everyone, no matter their social status, feels the pressure.

The words of Paul tell us that pressure is going to come, but the promise also says no matter how great the pressure, we will survive it. Given the state of things, this is good news! — @lukeholmes Share on X

At times it feels as if we can watch people cracking under the pressure right before our eyes. Through social media, 24-hour news, and our connected world, we can feel like the objects in the hydraulic press videos, with our life and soul slowly being squeezed out of us. The world is often all too happy to sit and watch, even to glorify or mock when the pressure comes on someone and they crack publicly.  

The Virtue of Endurance

Christians don’t simply watch the pressure crush others, and we don’t have a secret formula on how to escape it either, because that’s not possible. Through the grace of God, we demonstrate how to endure, no matter what comes our way.   

That’s why Christians should stand out in the world with the message that we will make it through. The message of the cross is that Christ has already endured the worst of what we could suffer, and that He bore it on our behalf. No matter what else comes our way, even if it is death itself, it will not defeat us. Through His death on the cross and resurrection, Christ has already defeated it all.

Every person you meet today could use encouragement. More than that, they need the good news of the gospel that through Christ we will endure. — @lukeholmes Share on X

Everyone feels the pressure. Every person you meet today could use a smile or an encouragement. More than that, they need the good news of the gospel that through Christ we will endure. Chances are you need that message too.  

Everyone feels like they just can’t go on or that they just want to give up. The message of the Christian life is not that pressures aren’t real, or that things aren’t as bad as they seem. The message of the cross is that God will get us through, no matter what the situation.