This week I have had it come to my attention that many of the people in our church our experiencing problems. Real struggles, that make us question what we're doing. I don't want to offer up some flippant advice or some christianese jargon fluff.
But John 16: 33 gives us a promise - "In this world you will have trouble" Linger on that for a minute....
We will have trouble. Cancer, relationship problems, the car broke down, the kids are sick, we don't have enough money to pay the bills, this infection won't go away, the neighbors dog wakes me up too early in the morning, my boss is a pain, the pipes are busted.... troubles. When we align ourselves with Jesus it does not eliminate us from the ordinary. It does not excuse us from life. The second half of the promise is this "But take heart!" Jesus says with an exclamation point. He then finishes with "I have overcome the world."
My friend Phil Milam sent me an e-mail the week before last, and he had some perspective on some of the troubles that we were encountering, Here is what Phil said:
Then the question occurred to me ‘what are we planting these seeds into?’ We are planting each seed into a vineyard. When one thinks of planting seeds into a vineyard the obvious implication is that grape seeds are being planted so that they can be harvested and made into wine.
The process of making wine from the seeds that grew into grapes does not happen overnight. First, the grapes need to be pressed so their juices flow out. Then the winemaker lets them sit in wineskins to ferment for up to two weeks so that the sugars can break down. Then the skins are pressed free of the wine so that it can sit for a few days and settle. Then the wine is put into barrels to age. This final step is important as it gives it much of its flavor and clears the opaque wine. This can last from a few days to forty years.
I think this has great implications for our church and ministry. We are waiting for our church to grow but we may grow impatient sometimes and not see the process of our church going through the winepress and soaking into the wineskins.
Complications may arise along the way but it may just be God’s way of making us into a
good ‘bottle of wine.’
When problems like copyright infringement come up, it may well be His plan of putting us through the winepress to strengthen us and enable us to solve problems as a church and come together to work against the enemy. It may be that in extending out to the community for support and donations He creates new bonds that wouldn’t be there if He didn’t put us through the press.
Or when we sit at a farm market that doesn’t seem to bare much fruit, we may just be fermenting as He allows us to sit back and observe our community, the way It works, and what it needs so that when we are ready He has already given the wisdom on where to serve and who to serve.
As we look for and worry about a new building and wonder where God is going to settle us into, we can know that God knows the ‘barrel’ that he wants us to age in. He has a location in mind that will take the seeds that have taken months to get where they are that will glorify Him and bring the lost to His son. It may be in that place that we grow together and achieve the ‘flavor’ He wants us to have. In that place we can worship Him and grow in our knowledge of Him so that we can give the city a taste of what He has for it. But we may just need to ferment a little longer before he places us there to age with the city.
If we focus on Him and what we believe He wants us to do I believe that these processes will take place on their own. When we are ready he will give us the tools necessary to fulfill His will. Once we have finished being pressed by the Holy Spirit, and we ferment in the blood of Christ that we drink each week, and we have aged in His presence gaining wisdom He will pour us out onto the community of Circleville. Once his divine processes have been completed each of us will be like a perfectly aged wine bottle ready to be drank by the community so that their palates can have a small taste of what it will be like to spend an eternity with God.
All that is required our end is patience as we do not know how long He needs us to age. It could be tomorrow in a similar fashion of John chapter 2 when Jesus says ‘fill the jars with water’ and when poured, good wine flows out and is served at the wedding feast. Or it could be weeks, or, months, or years just like the best of wines. If we do not wait for God’s timing we may taste like the watered down wines in Isaiah 1.."
I think that Phil nails it here. I know he was talking specifics about our church. But I think we can apply that to our lives. Yes, Sometimes troubles can just be the crappy ordinary stuff of life. Othertimes they can be the things that shape us, define us, grow, and stretch us. God's way of making us into a great bottle of wine.
I don't know which you are in, and I'm certain that either way it still sucks.
The promise still stands. Jesus has overcome the world.
What does that mean for us? Well...When we accept him, we take on his nature. This includes his nature to overcome! He is in us. His strength will fortify us in the crappiest of situations or even in the mundane.
We are here. If you need help or need to talk some things over, or just need to gain some perspective. Contact us. We're in this together.
ministers with us at
Vineyard Circleville Campus
if you'd like to e-mail him
philip.milam@vineyardcirclevillecampus.com
If you'd like more information aboutVineyard Circleville Campus
Please feel free to contact me at
ron.vanhorn@vineyardcolumbus.org
614-374-1176
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