New Wine.
In the world there are more than a hundred Types of wines. The general process of making a bottle of wine from seed to bottle can take three to five years. The seed by itself can’t do anything and tastes bitter. It needs the soil to sprout and the ground to feed on. The Farmer needs to give it water to be able to grow and to prune it to produce the best grapes. The grapes go through a couple of processes and finally are bottled to be enjoyed on a warm summer or cold winter evening with friends.
But the process from seed to bottled wine takes time and patience.
My leader, Louw Burger, once said something that stuck with me these past two years. We sing songs but do we really mean what we sing? Do we really surrender ourselves to the Lord?
Like in the song “New Wine”
… In the crushing
In the pressing
You are making new wine …
We sing it full heartedly and passionately but are we willing to do that? Are we willing to be crushed and formed by the Lord? Do we surrender ourselves in the soil for God to crush us and to press us to make new wine?
I sat with this for a long time and in this year I said “Lord I surrender my life fully, make new wine out of me”. I meant it and kept the words of Louw in the back of my mind going into this process.
The Lord took me through it. I surrender myself in the soil. The Lord started to chip away things in my life. He revealed things to me that I needed to work on. This process was painfully beautiful and I am so grateful for this personal time with God. He was shaping me.
What I also realised, is that this is not a once off process in our life. It is a continuous one and it is not only one aspect of our life. Just as there are so many different types of wine in the world there are so many different things I realised that I needed to surrender continually. Sometimes the things the Lord works on is not all sunshine and rainbows. He revealed things to me that I needed to work on to be able to take the next step; to be stronger and better. There where things I really didn’t want to be worked on and it was painful. During the difficult times, Louws words where stuck in the back of my mind and my promise that I surrender myself to God.
I found my strength in God, put all my trust in Him for He knows better and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit I was able to go through the difficult times with God. I was never alone during the process. I will continue on surrendering things to the Lord for Him to work on, for it is my hearts desire to walk in His will and trust in Him.
I would like to encourage you, if you are willing, to do the same. Surrender things in your life to the Lord, be patient, work through it with the Lord and you will be surprised by the outcome.
God loves You unconditionally.
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