What Presses Down on You Should not Depress You

From the immensely practical book of James
(James 1:3–4, 12–15)

Life with Jesus is particularly suited for people who come under pressure. After the first martyr, Stephen, was stoned, we read in Acts:

“On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1).

The pressure these persecuted Christians experienced forms the background of the Epistle of James. James begins his letter:

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings” (James 1:1).

To these battered and persecuted Christians, who had lost their homes and possessions, James writes about both external and internal pressure.

We know that not every form of pressure is unhealthy. There is eustress (positive stress) and distress. Eustress is the kind of pressure we need to mature. Children learn responsibility, reliability, orderliness, and other virtues because their parents train them. Such training always includes a healthy measure of challenge.

Distress, however, is external or internal pressure that threatens to break us. It is this kind of distress that James addresses.

Though our homes and possessions may not have been swept away by a hurricane, we all know what it is to be burdened. Distress is a fact of life. Therefore, with the help of God's Word, we must learn how to deal with it well.

A German news magazine once called us “the hurried society.” We know the pressures of schedules, leisure activities, and work. Many people complain about constant busyness and live under the dictatorship of speed. Tell someone you always have time, and they may look at you as though you had just arrived from Mars.

 God wants to tell us:

“What presses you down does not have to depress you.”