As I was grilling some pecans, spices and onions to dress up spinach leaves for lunch, I was thinking about how many things I’ve been trapped in stress or worry over and an interesting correlation came to mind. I heat the spices to activate the seasonings, saute the onions to soften their texture and toast the nuts to crisp their shell. By warming up the ingredients, the pressure draws out all kinds of flavor and lets me get the full bodied taste, the core of the food. Do you know what the secret to really good coffee is? The temperature. The hotter the water, the more flavor it draws out from the grounds. The greater the pressure inside the pot… even more flavors steep out!

I think about what happens to me when I’m under pressure. When things heat up, it draws out the core of my being, who I really am. If there’s any ‘bad fruit’ deep down, it comes to the surface real quick. And if the fruit is of the Spirit, it shines through like a beacon of light to the surrounding world. Often we portray ‘being under pressure’ as a bad thing, but  this is the time when God draws the core of our being to the surface… this is when the ‘flavor’ of who we are is extracted for the world to taste. And just as heat and pressure does, I think pressure can sometimes soften our hearts while it toughens the spirit.

I’ve come to understand that when things ‘get heated’ or I’m under pressure, it’s not necessarily a work of the devil.  It could be God drawing out the best in us, our core, our, character to infuse this world with the flavor of His goodness through us. Sometimes we are our best versions of our ourselves, sometimes we do our best work, when we’re under pressure. These are all good things and opportunities for God to show off the sweetness, and maybe a little spice, He’s created us to be. Warning: This is also a chance for the devil to reveal the sourness that’s buried within.