Mm ba da de, Um bum ba de… Under Pressure

You know the song “Under Pressure” don’t you?

And I’m not talking about the Vanilla Ice version (Ice Ice Baby).

I mean the David Bowie / Queen collaboration, the one that goes…

Mm ba da de
Um bum ba de
Um bu bu bum da de
Pressure—pushing down on me
Pressing down on you—no man ask for
Under pressure
That burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on the streets

We all know pressure and we experience it from a variety of sources: work, finances, relationships, bad news…

Under pressure.

Being under pressure is pretty much a given in life.

True.

Also true—how we deal with the pressure is up to us.

Some options include: avoiding, cracking, freaking out, medicating, and escaping.

All these coping mechanisms are unhealthy and do not address the real issue—the source of the pressure.

In Daniel chapter 2, the king of Babylon ordered all the wise men to be executed.

Daniel was one of the wise men. He heard the news—he was under pressure…

He could have gotten wasted and numbed the pressure with alcohol.

He could have smoked a bowl and gotten a few moments of relief.

He could have eaten an entire carton of Häagen-Dazs.

He could have attempted to run.

He could have flipped out.

He didn’t.

Here’s what he did:

“Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy…” (Daniel 2.17, 18 NLT)

Daniel didn’t give himself time to freak out or start self-medicating.

Daniel prayed. He asked his friends to pray. They asked for God’s help.

God gave Daniel the answers that he needed. Daniel and all the other wise men were spared.

If Daniel had taken the time to freak out and crack under pressure, he wouldn’t have had time to pray.

And in Daniel’s case, time was of the essence.

Here’s what the Bible says we should do when we’re under pressure…

“Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4.6, 7 NLT)

Um ba ba be
Um ba ba be
De day da
Ee day da
That’s OK…

Under Pressure.