The Pressing Place: Where Purpose Begins

There’s something sacred about the olive tree. It doesn’t just grow—it endures. It doesn’t just produce—it presses through. And before the oil ever flows, there’s a process—one that speaks to the heart of our walk with God.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus experienced the most human moment of His earthly journey. Gethsemane literally means “oil press,” and that’s no accident. It was the place of crushing—emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. He wept. He wrestled. He felt the weight of what was ahead and asked, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” Yet even in that moment, He surrendered: “Not My will, but Yours be done.”

That’s the pressing.

And just like Jesus, we too are pressed.

We are pressed by life’s unbearable trials—

by divorce, single motherhood, betrayal, and self-identity crises.

We’re pressed by systems that weren’t built for us,

by poverty, trauma, molestation, and abuse.

We’re pressed by cultural lies, brokenness, and generational wounds.

But still—we’re called to press.

Jesus pressed with nails in His hands, a crown of thorns on His head, and lashes across His back. He pressed past insults, rejection, and the betrayal of His closest friends. He felt everything you feel in your crushing place along with ten thousand times heavier. He bore it so that you could survive yours.

And more than survive—it’s so that your life could produce oil.

Your oil is your testimony.

Your oil is your healing.

Your oil is what breaks yokes and sets captives free.

Your oil will help somebody else rise.

God never asked for your perfection—He just asked for your press.

Because purpose isn’t polished—it’s pressed. And the charge is this:

Will you keep pressing so your oil can flow?