Bathyspheres

I was the speaker at a men’s retreat for a congregation on the northwest side of Houston. We went to a retreat center outside Brenham, which is where Blue Bell Ice Cream is made. A tv ad for Blue Bell says that cows believe Brenham is heaven. It was nice, but I am looking for a little more in heaven. Of course the bluebonnets were not in bloom yet.

One of he illustrations I used for the need for God’s power in your life is a bathysphere. A bathysphere is a diving device that can be lowered into the depths of the sea up to 3000 feet. The walls of a bathysphere are reinforced with thick steel so the pressures of the depths will not crush the vessel. Standard submarines cannot go to such depths.
But when they get to the deep parts of the ocean and turn on the lights, they are able to observe marine life that functions normally in that environment. It has been determined that they have an equal and opposite pressure on the inside, allowing them to withstand the pressure of the deep.

Christians live in environment that exerts pressure on them, moral and social pressure, and such. It is sufficient to crush. One of the ways some try to withstand is by putting on a thick impenetrable shell that makes them completely unattractive and uncaring about those outside. It is no wonder some find the faithful so rigid.

I suggested to the guys today that it is much better to fill up with the power of God on the inside, enabling us to function under the pressures of the world and be more able to let the world see His power at work in us.






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