“But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.” (Psalm 52:8 NIV)

I caught this verse yesterday and it’s still settling into my spirit. In the preceding verses, it seems that the psalmist has faced such persecution. Knowing David’s story, that makes sense. He writes on and on about the tactics and tendencies of evil men and then he makes a surprising statement. “But I am like an olive tree flourishing…”

A well-placed ‘but’ interrupts David’s train of thoughts and allows him to switch tracks entirely. He remembers the faithfulness of God and he begins to identify the fruit of that faithfulness in his own life.

David didn’t have an easy existence. He was wildly persecuted on both ends of his life; first by Saul and then by his sons. But, he is an olive tree flourishing.

I keep connecting olives to olive oil. Olives pressed produce oil. Persecution (from others or our Enemy) produces anointing if we’ll pull close to Christ and strive to remain righteous in the wake of pain.

David was pressed and so was our Savior. In fact, over and over in the gospels it says “the crowd was pressing” (Luke 5:1). Everywhere He went, Jesus was pressed. Perhaps the constant press of people prepared Him for the cross?

Did you know that Gethsemane means ‘a place of pressing?’ Wasn’t our Lord hard-pressed, for Kingdom’s sake? Didn’t He flourish? Why would we expect or desire any different! Don’t we want to be made like Him?

Jesus was pressed and His best was expressed. What about us? What is expelled when we are squeezed a bit on all sides? Our prayer should be that our expression would produce anointing and praise, that the world might note our song amidst our distress as they did David’s.

“For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.” (Psalm 52:9 NIV)

Lord, we know now that we are grown for the sole purpose of expressing. What is an olive if not for the oil? Let our lives give You glory when it’s broken and bleeding. May outside pressure produce anointing and praise. Amen.

“Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” 1 Samuel 2:22 NIV)

Times were tough. The corruption in the Tabernacle was widespread. The prophet Eli had lost control of his sons long ago and was unable or unwilling to do anything drastic to correct them. His songs were stealing the finest portions from the people’s sacrifices and seducing the young women who were trying to worship. I suspect that the mess in the Tabernacle was reflected in the population. Leadership always leads, even if their destination is destruction.

“The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was.” (1 Samuel 3:3 NIV)

Yet, in the most hopeless hours, it seems God always raises up another. There is a young boy: Samuel. He is the long-awaited son of Hannah, the son she carried and nursed and then turned over to the Lord as promised. The boy slept in the Tabernacle near to the Ark and the light of the Lord had not gone out.

Samuel was hungry and close. Historically, that’s who hears from God. That’s who God fills with His Spirit and uses to build His Kingdom.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6 NIV)

Lord, let us be hungry and close. We see the world pulling away from You. We see leadership looking the other way when it comes to sin. Raise up a generation who loves and honors You. Begin with us. Amen.

“Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.” (1 Samuel‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

How many years did Hannah suffer with a closed womb and a merciless sister-wife? It seemed the whole situation escalated at Tabernacle time: Peninnah poked her finger into Hannah’s open wound over and over again, year after year.

“Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray.” (1 Samuel‬ ‭1:9‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

What’s amazing is that Hannah kept going to Shiloh! She could have refused. She could have feigned injury or illness. She could have told her husband “This is just too hard for me” and he may have excused her from the entire ordeal. But she didn’t. She endured. She stayed by her husband’s side and kept doing the things that godly women do. Not only that, but she pressed in. When other folks were relaxing and chatting after dinner, she was in the tabernacle prayer room. She kept seeking God, even from the depths of her despair.

“I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord… For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.” (1 Samuel‬ ‭1:15-16‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Hannah took her hopelessness to the Lord. She didn’t try to hide it and she didn’t hide from Him. She prayed earnestly and honestly. She made a heartfelt promise in the dark that she would remain faithful to in the light. And then she set the whole matter in the capable hands of God.

And God heard her prayer.

“The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”” (1 Samuel‬ ‭1:19-20‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Hannah kept worshiping in the in between; in that sometimes long space between promise and producing, she gave God glory.

Lord, we all have unmet requests. May they not push us from You, but propel us toward You. Give us earnest, honest hearts that seek You out in our darkest situations and in our brightest moments. May we worship You always, in anguish or in joy. Amen.

“For we live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV)

Yesterday, I learned how to load a disabled vehicle onto a car trailer. Now, I did grow up in a home with a father who owned 93 cars, most of which were chronically disabled. I had watched my dad load dead vehicles out of a field or a dilapidated barn many, many times. But yesterday, I participated in the process. Rob ran the electric winch – praise God for whoever invented that ingenious device! It as a far cry from the rickety comealong system we employed back in the day! So Rob ran said winch, I was the driver and Chris commanded the whole endeavor from his wheelchair.

Did I mention I was the driver?

The thing I really got a hold of yesterday is the blind confidence the driver must have in the spotter when amidst such an endeavor. The powerless vehicle had to be pulled up and to the right about a foot, a process that involved overcompensating before correcting.  As the driver, with nose in the air at a 60 degree angle, it felt for all the world like I was going to fall off the twelve inch wide ramps. I had to trust my spotter completely. Honestly, at one point, I closed my eyes so I could hear his voice over my own shouting sense of panic. A disabled vehicle carelessly rolled off the ramps midair would mangle the car and the trailer.

Maybe you can see what I am getting at? There have been so many times with Jesus where it felt like I was falling off tiny ramps. I feel like I’ve spent the entire last year teetering on the edge of disaster. I’ve had to learn to close my eyes to fear and put all my effort into listening to the One who loves me, and trust that He has me. He won’t lead me into the abyss.

Living by faith means following when you can’t see, or when what you do see feels all wrong. Walking by faith means implicitly trusting that God, the spotter, continually maintains perfect perspective on our whole scenario.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV)

Lord, sometimes life is scary and we can’t see where we are going. Sometimes it is an uphill battle and it feels like we are falling, like we are failing. But Lord, You are our perfect spotter. If we’ll only heed Your instructions, You’ll get us home safely. Please help us listen to Your voice and trust You above our feelings or circumstances. Amen.