What We Can Learn From the Olive... part 3

Today is our last little look at what we can learn from olives. Life can be hard - we can feel pressed on every side- but when we put out trust in Jesus Christ - He will work it all out for our good! 

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 

persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

The Crushing Times are Preservation Times 

"The final thing I want to consider about the olive is the best way to preserve it for the long run. It must be crushed in order to extract the oil. The same is true for us. The biblical way to be preserved is to be pressed. And being pressed can certainly feel like being crushed.....Crushing, rather, is the way of preservation. It's also the way to get what's most valuable, the oil out of the olive. Keeping this perspective is how we can be troubled on every side yet not distressed..pressed to the point of being  crushed but not crushed or destroyed."

  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28