First thing, remind yourself that there is no victory if there is no battle. This will mean that there will be a lot of things in life that will crush you, but you have to see every single breakdown as a chance to grow, to become greater. I’ve met a lot of people with great souls and the more time I spend with them the more stories I hear about their struggles in the past. And what they all have in common is: they flew high, fell so hard but they bounced even higher after the fall. They went through it, they didn’t run from it.  They took valuable lesson out of it and carry on.

I was in Sydney a couple of weeks ago and I went to Hillsong Church together with my family, the guest pastor was Steven Furtick, founder and lead pastor of Elevation Church based in Charlotte, NC. He was preaching about “How to Preach to Yourself Under Pressure” and I think it was a great message for all of us as we all most of the time are under pressure.

 

NB: this post is written based on my notes that I took during the sermon so I’m quoting Pastor Furtick here and there.

Pastor Steven Furtick told us that there are three things we need to say to ourselves, which are:

1. “I’ve been here before, this isn’t my first time”

You might thought that you are over some of hard things in your life and you really thank God that it’s over. And then comes this “Oh no, not again”-moment (ONNAM). Yes, same hard situations you once had in the past, you thought you mastered it but it’s repeating again. Well, He knows best, if you’re having the ONNAM that means you’re not done yet. I’m not saying that it won’t happen to you again if you have mastered it, I’m saying that you’ll say I’ve been here before, this isn’t my first time instead. And the best part is that you went through it before and today still it’s the same God in me and for me. What’s keeping you from conquering the situation? NOTHING. Carry on!

 

2. “I’m not that important”

As bizzare as it may sound, once in awhile that sentence and thought can calm us down in the midst of pressure. The truth is worrying doesn’t take you anywhere, the sun will still rise in the morning and it will set in the afternoon. It has nothing to do with how you feel, what you do or else. You are not the centre of the world. So when you need to do something that you don’t like, tell yourself that you are not that important: you don’t have to do it, but you get to do it. That should make a lot of difference, because when you get to do it that means you are given a chance to execute it. It is not like as if you have to do it otherwise the world will crumble or anything. This is a great sentence by Pastor Furtick as a reminder: “It’s not the load, but how you carry it that breaks you down“. Remember, you are not that important *wink*.

 

3. “I’m better under pressure.”

I’m hesitating to say this sentence out loud, because I feel like I’m attracting pressures to come to me. But, it’s absolutely true! You can’t win anything if you don’t have something to overcome. Look at my favourite apostle, Paul. I always think that I might have gone cray! if I was him. It amazes me how he can write tons of beautiful letters while he was in prison. He didn’t have the pity party while he was locked up, instead he wrote many amazing letters that help us today, thousand years after. I will say this: a great soul, a great person, does not build in a night. Pressure produces power and perseverance. Most of the time it will show the strength that you thought you never had. So remember this every time you are under pressure: it’s a chance, given to you, to grow, to become greater than before. Take it.

 

 

Stay awesome!

-Sara