Oh! Press on!

Even the sound of the word 'oppression' bears down. Last night we experienced an huge storm. Prior to its arrival the air felt thick and burdensome. This morning everything has cleared. As I went out for a walk, I was surrounded by the light, lifting music of the birds, the glistening of drops on leaves and nice gentle breezes. The air smelled clean and fresh!

In Isaiah 54: 14ff there are some pressure-relieving verses as to the effects of oppression:

Isaiah 54:14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. 15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 17 No weapon that is formed (yatsar) against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

I have been looking at verse 17 for a while and the word 'formed' intrigues me. It is the Hebrew word 'yatsar' meaning an act of taking things already in existence and squeezing and pushing them together to get the desired results. This is an action verb for how things are put together to exert a force, good or evil. Everything around us exerts a force. A force for evil presses down, a force for good lifts. Depression is a result of a downward movement, freedom is a result of lifting. 

Force, in physics, equals mass x acceleration, in other words there is more than one component to a force. A system is a group of components that work together. Weather operates as a system or a group of systems. In order for a tornado to form or a bird to fly, a series of things need to happen.

When something begins to bear down on us, God is the best source of relief. He knows exactly how this world works. Both the blacksmith and the waster were given choice, therefore even though God created humans and spirit beings, they in of themselves can cause pressure. Ultimately God knows the component parts of the systems involved in their actions.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God (knowledge, righteousness and believing provided by the manifestations of holy spirit), that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (methodia- methods in reference to the systems of the world) of the devil.

We have choice too. We can choose to pray or not to pray. We can choose to look to God or away from him. We can choose the worldly guilt-ridden package of imperfection or truly accept perfection in the Lord that effectively and graciously lifts our heart.