God in the Everyday: Finding Purpose in Life’s Pressures. How Life’s Chaos Can Shape Your Calling

Life in the Caribbean, while filled with natural beauty and vibrant culture, comes with its own unique pressures. 

The high cost of living, limited job opportunities, juggling multiple side hustles, caring for extended family, power outages, water shortages, social expectations, and even trying to maintain a prayer life in a noisy household—all contribute to daily stress. 

For many, there’s also the internal pressure of wondering, “Am I really living in my purpose?” “Am I doing enough so that if Jesus Christ returns now I would be saved in His Kingdom?” Questions that need answers.

But what if these very pressures we face on a daily basis provide the classroom where God is shaping our calling?

Pressure is not foreign to Scripture. Throughout the Bible, God meets people in the midst of their chaos—not apart from it. 

Let’s begin with Joseph, who was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused of sexual assault, and imprisoned for years. That’s pressure upon pressure, layered with injustice and rejection. 

But Joseph remained faithful, interpreting dreams and maintaining  his integrity. 

Eventually, he was elevated to second-in-command in Egypt. 

Genesis 50:20 (NLT) captures his understanding of God’s purpose: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” 

Joseph didn’t find his calling despite the chaos—he found it through the chaos.

Then there’s Esther, a young Jewish woman who had to hide her identity in a foreign palace, risking her life to advocate for her people. Talk about pressure! 

When the moment came to act, Mordecai told her in Esther 4:14 (ESV), “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 

Esther fasted, prayed, and boldly approached the king. And because of her courage under pressure, an entire nation was spared. 

Esther shows us that pressure-filled moments can become the platforms for divine purpose. And do you know that some people react quicker or better when under pressure?

Let’s look at Daniel for example. He faced national pressure in Babylon, not just from his community, but from the highest level. Daniel was surrounded by pagan practices and government corruption. Some of us can identify with him because we work in some environments where they have no respect for God.

When a decree was passed making it illegal to pray to anyone but the king, Daniel continued to pray openly. He was thrown into a den of lions, but God shut the mouths of the lions (Daniel 6:22, NIV): “My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight.” 

Daniel didn’t allow societal pressure to silence his relationship with God. We know some people who behave unsaved amongst their unsaved friends and family right…to fit in or to find favour with them. It’s like they take off the Jesus covering and put it back when it’s convenient for them.

But not Daniel. As a result, he became a witness to kings and generations.

On the flip side, let’s consider Saul, Israel’s first king. He caved under pressure—specifically the pressure to please people and act before God’s timing. See what I’m talking about. All of us perhaps have done this.

In 1 Samuel 13:11–12 (NLT), when Samuel confronted him, Saul said, “I saw my men scattering from me... So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us...’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.” 

That decision cost him the kingdom. 

Saul teaches us that pressure can expose character and that rushing ahead of God often leads to ruin.

Contrast Saul with David, a man under constant pressure—from hiding in caves while fleeing Saul, to leading a divided nation, to grieving personal moral failures. And yet, David continually turned to God. 

In Psalm 34:4–5 (NLT), he writes, “I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.” 

David’s secret was not perfection but dependence.

Even Jesus, the Son of God, felt pressure. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He was under such intense emotional and spiritual strain that He surrendered to the will of the Father, saying in Luke 22:42 (NIV), “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 

Furthermore, Luke 22:44, KJV tells us, “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” 

But we can say today thank You God for Jesus’ obedience, because that led to our salvation.

So how does this apply to us here in the Caribbean? When we are pressured to take shortcuts in business to survive—remember Joseph. When we’re the only ones in our family or workplace who stands for what’s right—remember Daniel. When we are overlooked and feel small, but sense a bigger purpose bubbling in our heart—remember Esther. When we have failed publicly—remember David. And when the call of God seems heavy—remember Jesus.

Those examples and more, which you can highlight, can give us that extra level of comfort when the going gets rough.

Family, life’s pressures are not the enemies of our purpose. They are often the very tools God uses to mold our calling. Question is: do we want to be molded by God or we think we’re good?

Romans 5:3–5 (NLT) reminds us, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”

Thank God He is not absent in our deadlines, our disappointments, or our daily duties. He is right there—in the kitchen, in the office, on the bus, and in the schoolyard—shaping our spirits and refining our purpose.

Let’s not waste anymore time in the enemy’s camp Family. I know…you’re responding: I’m not in the enemy’s camp. Ok that’s really great because that is not where we should be as Christians.

But watch how we behave under pressure. I used to snap and get really angry. No more devil! Hallelujah. Deliverance in the name of Jesus. After all, I will not be the same old same old every day. What about you? Any improvement in your spiritual walk?

Family, we must be able to see a difference for good in our lives day after day. Jesus is coming back soon, for a prepared people. Are we prepared?

So whatever pressure you are facing right now. Stop the crying. Don’t waste the pressure. Embrace it, pray through it, and walk boldly in the knowledge that God is forming something eternal in the midst of it. 

We are being trained, not tormented. And what feels like chaos today may be the very classroom for your calling to grow. 

aub - 22May25 

www.zjoyvi.com

https://www.youtube.com/live/ft8gCZlgCk8?si=xZrYffeQczY1BX-s