Sometimes God will use pressure exerted on us to move us. Maybe we have gotten too settled and stagnant and we need to be uprooted to be replanted for future growth. Or perhaps we have become comfortable and complacent, unwilling to stretch or take new territory. We once had God-sized dreams and huge desires in our hearts but now we have settled for a life more ordinary. We have allowed ourselves to live well below our capacity. Or we have allowed fear or past failure to cause us to shrink and shrivel up inside.

The discomfort and pressure you're feeling at this time could well be a sign that it's time to move. You weren't willing to jump so God is pushing and pressing you out of your comfort zone. The pressure is not punishment - it's a sign that you're now prepared for a wider influence, greater responsibility or new opportunity. God has put so much more in you and until you are squeezed it will not come out.

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2 Corinthians 1:8-11

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”

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Acts 8:1

“On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.”

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Deuteronomy 33:20

“Blessed is he who enlarges Gad's domain!“

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Isaiah 54:2-4

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.”