The Pressing (Part 2)

Before the wine, there’s the crushing. Before the oil, the pressing. Before the breakthrough, the pressure.

We love the idea of becoming, of growth, of strength, of wisdom, but we often resist the very thing that brings it: pressure. But pressure isn’t punishment. It’s preparation.

I didn’t know I was in a pressing until everything around me started to close in. The comfort zones. The familiar relationships. The roles I played. The way I used to pray. Everything started to feel tight. Like I was being squeezed.

And that squeezing revealed what was really inside me: fear, ego, unforgiveness, false identity, pride.

In the natural, olives are crushed to release the oil. Grapes are pressed to produce wine. In both cases, value comes through violence. It’s not gentle. It’s not clean. It’s not quiet. But it’s necessary.

The pressing comes to reveal.

And what’s revealed can be healed.

If you're in the pressing, it doesn't mean you're being punished. It means something precious is being drawn out of you.

Don’t run from the crushing. Let it produce the oil.

Let it produce the anointing.

Let it press purpose from your pain.

Let the pressure shape you, not break you. The oil is coming.

Still becoming,

Alexya