That Squeezed Feeling

While speaking with my very pregnant daughter on the phone the other day, she reminded me of the discomfort I felt when, like her, I was 37 weeks along and she was in my tummy! Oh, yeah, a baby pressing against my bladder, I remember. Feeling elbows and knees kicking me and wondering if I was black and blue on the inside. I thought of my little granddaughter growing bigger and getting ready to make her debut into the world. How uncomfortable the squeeze must be for her. I spoke out loud: “She’s in that too tight place! Imagine her displeasure too.”

That too tight place. When I got off the phone I thought about a message I once heard about that place that’s too tight – a place of nuisance. It’s temporary. It’s horrible! I found my journal notes and revived my spirit. Here’s what I read:

A tight place is a place when you are not there yet. You’re getting closer, but you have not yet embraced the answer, or the result or arrived in some way. You may look okay on the outside, but people do not know how miserable you are on the inside. Change is coming. It will be good, but right now you feel uncomfortable. It’s the middle place, and that’s stressful. You have to wait; waiting means pressure.

The teacher cited Jesus in the Garden. Gethsemane was the place of temptation. It was His too tight place. He prayed, alone. His friends slept. He was afraid. His emotions were raw. The Father strengthened Him. He was able to go on. Jesus understands the too tight place.

I’ve experienced the too tight place many times. Things don’t always make sense. So what’s the best way to get through it? I read further in the journal. Jesus is right there in it. His Name, Savior, means peace! I close with this encouragement:

But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:32

This post links to Tell Me A True Story.

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