Pressure is something that has ruined many good promises, broken many good friendships, shattered many extravagant dreams. If we could do an accurate study of how people handle pressure, I believe we would find that most people perform more poorly under pressure than they would undertaking the same task with no pressure. I don't personally know of anyone for certain, who hasn't broken a promise. The promise might have been made, as most are, with every good intention, but do to outside circumstances (pressure), the promise was broken. Why is it so hard to keep a promise? Why are we so easily influenced, or so timid of enduring moments of pressure in order to be true to our word?
Nobody likes to be uncomfortable, and pressure is uncomfortable. This is one reason why I am so glad that Isaiah 55 shows us that God's ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts. If God succumbed to pressure the same way that we do, he would be the (literally) biggest liar of all, but His ways aren't our ways. He cannot lie; therefore, He cannot break a promise. His promises fill His Word from cover to cover, but the one that has stuck out to me the most recently is Matthew 19:29.
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29 NIV)
As a missionary, this verse is an amazing promise! We leave everything: family, jobs, and friends are just the tip of the iceberg that we leave behind. Some people wonder, "For what? Why do you leave when there are people here who need help?"
While we don't leave to receive the hundred fold, this promise has enabled many to endure the hardship of leaving those we care about, to reach others that we may never know.
The proverb is true that you reap what you sew, but when you sew where the Master tells you to sew, the reward is much greater.
