The Beauty in Pressure

I love the results of pressure washing. Some people refer to it as power washing, but from where I come from it has always been called pressure washing. Tomato, tomahto. Although, to be frank, I've never heard anyone call it that. Though, on certain cooking shows I'm a fan of, they do have a strange way of pronouncing basil. But that is an entirely different blog topic.

We have sprinklers in our yard that are fed from our well. It's a mixed blessing. While the water is free, it is Florida water which is filled with all sorts of minerals. And not the type that do a body good. They leave a sediment behind on our pool concrete, as you can see by the picture above, that requires us to do a good pressure wash annually. We have this very cool attachment for our pressure washer that looks like a robot vacuum. It is about 15 inches across and has a rotating spray arm inside and covers a large area in a short amount of time. Way faster than sweeping back and forth and back and forth with a tiny jet spray. I love it. When I was getting set up to do the annual sprucing up for Summer-time pool opening, my husband informed me of a step I may or may not have been aware of.

He told me that to be sure and take the regular attachment and after I was done, do a sweep of the concrete after I was finished and wash all the water off. I would do little good, he told me, to leave the dirty water sitting on the clean concrete. We would have close to the same results in a short amount of time if we left the dirty water sitting behind. Right...makes perfect sense. I'm sure I knew this and have done it each and every time I cleaned the pool deck in the past. Oops.

As I stood out in the warm sunshine and watched the filthy concrete become clean again, it gave me such a sense of satisfaction. Even now, I can look out the back and see the results of my work and feel accomplished. I would have been rather annoyed if I had looked and seen muddy or dirty spots just because I had left remnants behind. Being attentive, mindful of that extra step made my efforts worthwhile.

I believe that pressure is how we rise above in our lives. James 1:2-4 tells us: "Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing."  But just like the pressure washing of my concrete leaves behind residue that needs to be gotten rid of, the same can happen in our lives. We must be mindful that anger, bitterness and resentfulness not take up residence in our hearts. James goes on to say, "No one undergoing a trial should say 'I am being tempted by God,' since God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself doesn't tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death."

 Jesus reminded His disciples in Matthew 12, when a demon left a person, if something, or Someone, didn't fill the empty space, then the demon would return with seven others and make the matter worse than it was before. 

Pressure can make us better, stronger. Or it can defeat us and leave us worse than before. It is our response that determines the outcome.