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

What We Can Learn From the Olive part 2

Several weeks ago at my Wellness Counts class I learned some interesting facts about olives. The Dietitian shared about a time in her life when she lived in Italy and had an olive tree. She told us you can not just pick an olive from the tree and eat it. This was news to me. Read below how Lysa TerKeurst explains the process that an olive has to undergo in order to be useful for food. 

The Crushing Times Are Processing Times 

"Another thing to consider about the olive tree is how naturally bitter the olive is and what it must go through to be useful. If you were to prick an olive from the tree and try to eat it, its bitterness would make you sick. 

For the olive to be edible, it has to go through a lengthy process, which includes.....

washing, 

breaking, 

soaking,

sometimes salting, 

and waiting. 

It is a lengthy process to be cured of bitterness and prepared for usefulness. If we are to escape the natural bitterness of the human hear, we have to go through a long process as well...the process of being cured."

I will be adding a link to each of the prior posts in this series here as I can: 

Part 1 

More and More Space for Grace

“The only thing I’ve seen work in my life to protect my heart from these deep wounds (of rejection) is the constant pursuit of the sweetest grace. 
To love God is to cooperate with His grace. And since I am so very aware of my own need for grace, I must be willing to freely give it away. Each hole left from rejection must become an opportunity to create more and more space for grace in my heart.”

Quote in “Uninvited” by Lysa TerKeurst

Be sure and come back tomorrow when I tell of a personal experience that goes right along with this quote. Just like I said before - this time during this class has had many pop quizzes in which I have had the opportunities to put into practice what I have been learning.  

Sweet Aroma

“As Jesus girls, we can’t walk in victory while wallowing in thoughts of defeat and rejection. We must carry with us the sweet aroma of knowing Jesus everywhere we go.”


"There is an abundant need in this world for your exact brand of beautiful." 
~Lysa TerKeurst in “Uninvited” 

I highly recommend this book!

Will run after us

“There aren’t many sure things in this world. But God’s love and goodness are something we can absolutely count on to be there with us... to follow us.”

(reference to Ps.23) The original Hebrew word actually means “to pursue” or “chase. “God‘s goodness and love 

will run after us all the days of our lives.”

~ Lysa TerKeurst in her “Uninvited” book

Making, Not Breaking You

“Hold fast to Jesus and remember: this breaking of you will be the making of you. A new you. A stronger you. Strengthened not with the pride of perfection but with the sweet grace of one who knows an intimate closeness with her Lord.”

The Lord is close to the broken hearted 

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

 Psalm 34:18.

Just a little something from my book Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst 

What a blessing this book has been to my soul! :O)