Utterly

I'm not a fan of olives--too bitter for me. Olive oil with spices for dipping big warm pieces of crusty bread in? Allllll day! Yet I can still appreciate a good illustration that uses anything, even olives, to make a point. A couple of weeks ago, my devotion for the day used the olive tree and olives to explain 2 Corinthians 4:8-9:

"We are hard pressed on every side but not crushed;

perplexed, but not in despair;

persecuted but not abandoned;

struck down but not destroyed".

Apparently the olive tree needs both eastern and western winds to grow properly. Eastern winds in Jesus' region were harsh, hot desert winds but the Western winds blew off the Mediterranean and brought the moisture needed to help them flourish. The parallel was that as believers, the "winds" of hardship and relief help us to grow. 

If you pick an olive right from the tree and try to eat it watch out--it will be wayyyyy too bitter. It has to go through a process of washing, breaking, soaking, possibly salting, and waiting for it to be useful. So too with us--we often have to go through a process to cure us from bitterness in order to be useful. There was also added in the part of preservation--in order to preserve the olive via olive oil, the olive has to be pressed/crushed. 

Neat illustration. I get it. Okay...What else?

Part of my practice of late when digging into the Word has been to extract the key words, look up the Hebrew or Greek, and then read the verse with new eyes. "Pressed" replaces "troubled" (KJ) which means "to crowd"..."crushed" replaces "distressed" (KJ) which means "to cramp"...So we are crowded on every side but not cramped...I see this as feeling a little uncomfortable in a crowd of people at a concert or other venue verses stressing being wedged amidst bodies on a subway or in an elevator. 

The next two words were key for me. "Perplexed"="to have no way out, to be at a loss mentally". Well, that doesn't sound good! And the verse says that is what we are? What we WILL experience? We won't have any way out or feel mentally lost? That didn't make sense to me...until I looked up "despair"="to be utterly at a loss". "Utterly" is defined as "completely, absolutely". Ahhh...one word that changes everything, one little word that makes the difference between what we experience. With Christ we will never get to utterly. 

I went through some hard stuff this week. Upset people, sticky situations, courageous conversations I didn't want to have but had to...At certain times it really didn't feel good...at all. But there was an absolute relief in claiming scripture. The harsh winds blew in for sure...but relief did come. My thoughts and feelings certainly did feel crowding...but not overwhelming. Perplexed? Eh...maybe for a few minutes here and there if I allowed my mind to go there with "What if's"...but because I know Jesus and I believe in His intent in trials for my good and growth and I trust Him, I never even got close to "utterly". And I praise Him for that.