Sunday Drive - Flower Press - Being Pressed In Life

Last month, I spoke at our Women's Group at church. It was just a short devotional with a little craft for the ladies to take home. We decoupaged pressed flowers on to a votive.

I was asked to speak back in March, and prayed about what The Lord wanted me to share. In the following month, I felt God place the words 'flower press' on my heart. Flower press? What would that have to do with anything?

So, I prayed about it and felt I should talk about the process of flowers being pressed and how that might relate to us and the journey of our lives.

I had never pressed flowers, so I had no idea what I was doing or how this was going to turn out. I saw on Pinterest how I could make my own flower press. So, I found some pieces of scrap wood and dug through hubby’s jars of nuts and bolts. I found 4 sets that would work. Drilled holes for the bolts and voile’ - a flower press.

For the last few months, I’ve been pressing flowers, leaves and grasses from my yard. In the morning, I would collect them, then lay them out on a piece of paper. Next, lay another paper on top, then add a piece of wood to hold on top of the paper. Repeat that same process until I had a few layers. Then add the large piece of wood on top and press it down, add the washers and wingnuts and tighten them. Then after a week or so, I’d take them out and gently place them in a container for storing. Then repeat.

They were beautiful flowers and leaves before I pressed them. Then they went to the flower press. Pressure has been applied and they have dried through the process. They came out just as beautiful, different but beautiful.

Which reminds me of that verse in the Bible about being pressed on every side…

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NLT)
8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

God already knew that we were going to go through pressing times in our lives. So, He reminds us here that we will never be destroyed and that He will be with us through it all!

I Googled the description of flowers being pressed and this is what I found… It's kinda cool….

Flowers are pressed but not crushed.(Interesting wording, right?)

The process involves flattening them between absorbent paper to remove moisture and prevent decay, then using some sort of weight to apply pressure, while ensuring that the flowers are protected.(We have all kinds of things applying pressure to us in this life...family, work, tragedy, and just living.)

Flower pressing helps to preserve the flowers’ natural shape and color by drying them while maintaining their structural integrity. This preserves the flower allowing it to be used in a new fashion. (Applying this to our lives…this makes us lean on Him more and makes us stronger than we ever thought. Maintaining the structural integrity!)

Throughout life we will be pressed. Unfortunately, we will go through hardships. It's not an easy process to be pressed. It can be painful and most likely it will take some time. The drying time for flower pressing can take weeks before the flower is ready. Our time under pressure is unknown. It may be a few weeks, or it could be months. However, the God of all creation, knows exactly how long it will take til we are ready. Then we are preserved and ready to be used in a new way.

I don’t say any of this to discourage you…sometimes life isn’t always fair, and it stinks. But to actually encourage you and remind you that God is with you and will bring you through everything and it won’t last forever. Hang on to God, He will not loosen His grip on you.

Romans 5:3-5 (NLT)
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

I’m going to take a little liberty here…I’m thinking of the process of the absorbent papers encasing the flower. Let’s just say that Jesus is one of the papers and the Holy Spirit the other. During the pressing season, you are completely enveloped and protected. Keeping you from decay. To remove the excess ‘water’ in our lives that needs to go. The junk, the sin, the stuff we want to gloss over and hide. He sees and knows all. He knows your heart and wants to draw you to Him. That’s the whole point of life… to be drawn to Jesus more and more!

Jeremiah 29:14-14 (NIV)
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

I think about how the Israelites may have felt. Being held in captivity, exiled. That had to be a very dark time for them. And if you have been in a place like that, you might lose hope. But you will not remain there forever. God will bring you back! The Light will shine again. And most importantly you are NEVER EVER alone.

Psalms 23:4 (NLT)
Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

What is left after the pressing process? A beautiful flower. Different and changed from where it started, but still just as beautiful and ready to be used. Your life is beautiful. You are different from where you started because we have all been pressed, but just as beautiful and ready to be used by God.

Matthew 11:28 (NLT)
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

It says that His yoke is easy to bear, and the burden He gives us is light. The key there is His Yoke, His burden is easy and light. Some of these things we go through are from this world and The process of living in it.

I also believe that everything that happens to us goes through the throne room of God and He allows some things and prevents some things.. That can be very hard to accept. But remember God is always good. He is not like us. His ways are not like our human ways. We are created in His image. He was not created in ours. We must trust Him, lean into Him and know He will always take care of us.

We’re always in a process of change throughout our entire life. We have no idea what’s around the next bend. But we do know that God is continuing what He started in us. Bringing us to where He wants us to be.

Philippians 1:5 (NLT)
6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

However, on top of being pressed on all sides… let’s not forget we have an enemy… Who is very real and would love to destroy you. He also sees what we are going through, what we have been through and loves to throw it up in our faces whenever he can. Why does he do this? One, he hates us and two he doesn’t want us to grow, he doesn’t want us to know our potential…he doesn’t want us to have a testimony of what God has brought us through.

The devil wants you to believe his lies. God is a good God with a good plan. We must trust in Him. That’s how we’re going to survive this journey. That’s how we survive the press of life.

One of the greatest tools we have to combat the devil is the Word of God! Read your Bible. I can’t stress this enough. Too many Christians are illiterate when it comes to the Bible. Myself included. We need to know the Word more and feed our souls.

Are you trusting in Jesus to bring you through? Do you believe He will bring you through? I know we are either struggling now, or we have at some point of our lives… no one is exempt.

Let me encourage you…Jesus is there. He’s always been there. He will help you. With His help, You will emerge. You will grow, you will be stronger than you ever thought. Your life is beautiful before the pressing, during the pressing and beautiful after the pressing.

Blessings,
Lori