Sealed Under Pressure

I have many fond childhood memories at this time of year. All summer long my sister’s and I helped our mother in the garden. The front portion of our garden was the flower bed. My mom planted Zinnias, Hollyhocks, and Snow on the Mountain, Sedums and many other favorites. Behind the flower bed there was a huge vegetable garden. We had carrots, beets, peas, green beans, onions, cucumbers and tomatoes.  We were very self sufficient. We generally ate the peas and carrots fresh. The rest of the vegetables my mother canned. Every year she brought her quart sized glass jars up from the basement. She carefully examined each one to be sure that there were no chips or cracks in them. Then she washed them and placed them upside down on a linen towel to dry. Mom chose the vegetables at the peak of maturity. She was very particular that none of them were too green or too ripe. I often had the job of snapping the green beans. Snapping the beans means using your fingers to remove the ends, and peel the strings off the beans, then breaking them into bite size pieces by snapping them again with your fingers.  If my dad heard me complain about what seemed like an endless bowl of fresh beans he would remind me, “We all do our part so that we can all have plenty to eat this winter.”

When the food was prepared and the jars sterilized my mother would bring out the canner. She filled the jars and wiped their edges clean. Then she added the lids followed by the jar rings. She placed the jars into a basket and lowered them into a canner full of water. The jars remained fully submerged and brought to a boil for a specific amount of time. When the processing time was complete mom removed the jars from the from the water. As they cooled on the counter a popping sound came from the jars. That sound meant that the jars were sealed and would keep for as long as one year.

There was always a sense of security when the fall canning was finished. Iowa has very cold winter temperatures. The average snow fall in the area we lived was nearly thirty five inches per year. As a child I knew that regardless if we were able to get to town or not we would have plenty to eat.  The pressure caused by the canning process kept our food fresh and free from spoilage.

“For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing” (James 1:3-4)

Are there circumstances that are pressing in from all sides on you today? Does it seem like nothing will ever change? Do you feel like there is no way out? Do you lie in your bed at night, tears streaming from your eyes and wonder, “God where are you?” You are not alone. Every one of us has felt that way. That’s why God gave us His Word. The over whelming heaviness you feel is something you are not meant to carry. Jesus promised He would never leave us. He is not a man. He cannot lie because He is The Truth (John 14:6.) He has promised us peace, strength, hope, and deliverance. Give everything over to Him.  When you trust Him you will become stronger. He will preserve you through the pressure by sealing you with the promises that He paid for with His own blood.

Let Him be everything you need. Because that is exactly what He is… He is everything.

“You keep track of all my sorrow. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book…This I know: God is on my side! I praise God for what He has promised; yes, I praise the Lord for what He has promised.”  (Psalms 56:8-10)