In the Crushing...Take Heart
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“In the crushing you are making new wine,
in the soil breaking new ground.
Where there is new wine, there is new power.
There is new freedom and the kingdom is here.
I lay down my offerings to carry your new fire.
So make me your vessel, make me an offering,
make me whatever you want me to be.
Jesus bring new wine out of me.”
This morning I’m thankful that “in the crushing” you God are making new wine. I spent a few minutes with @crystalyatesmusic worship and she sang the lyrics to this song. There is nothing like time worshipping alongside a gifted leader with a heart for Jesus. I haven’t heard this song before, maybe an original, but it spoke to me.
I am reminded of the grace and goodness of our God. The truth of John 16:33 where Jesus was preparing his disciples for what was imminent is very evident right now. He said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Most generations living right now have never experienced an occurrence that has so overtly affected the world. This Coronavirus is and has impacted our entire society in many ways. Most of which we have little to no control over. Our foundations have been shaken and our stability doesn’t feel so stable anymore. Even under these circumstances we can rejoice and have hope.
This is Easter weekend. On Good Friday all seemed lost. Followers of Jesus were devastated, left without hope it seemed. For three days they grieved and questioned what was real, what was true. The disciples had literally left life as they knew it behind to follow Jesus. Now he’s dead? This caused a definite shaking in the foundation of their lives as well.
In the shaking, or as the song lyrics phrased, “in the crushing”, we can know good things will be birthed. In the process of making wine the grapes must be crushed. In order for a beautiful oak tree to grow, the acorn must be buried and slowly transformed. The process may be, no will be painful at times, but for those who love Jesus and are called according to his purposes, the result will be beauty. It is his desire for that to be every single one of us but he allows us to choose fear or faith. Even with faith we will still feel fear but it won’t overcome us. Why? Because Jesus told us all those years ago that whatever trouble comes for you, rest because he has already dealt with it.
His dealing with it may look different than we would choose for it to look but His ways are higher than our ways. He is so far beyond our wildest imagination and He is all good and His goodness and perfect love are poured out for us.
On the cross Jesus took on the Coronavirus and every single way it has hurt us. He felt the emotional and physical exhaustion of the medical workers on the front line. He was with each one who lost the battle. Not one died alone. He was there and he made his presence known to them. He felt the grief of each one who has wept at the loss of one they loved and shared life with. He felt the fear, panic, and anxiety. He felt the loneliness and the isolation of those quarantined alone. He took every effect of every sin committed by us and against us, for every one who has ever lived, or ever will live. That is why Good Friday was so dark and so brutal.
Take heart! We know the end of the story. We don’t know every scene or act, but we know the ending. The crushing of the grapes will come, but they aren’t crushed without a purpose. The acorn is buried and broken, but only for new growth and transformation to break through. Wine requires a fermentation process, oak trees need time for growth, and Jesus was in the grave for three days. Times of uncertainty are part of life but we really can take heart. I truly believe this. I have experienced it throughout my life and nothing speaks God’s love to me more than the cross. I look back over my life and I count the cost in my one life alone, and I am beyond grateful. Our God gets us. He is willing and longs to help us through life, to bring good out of every single hard thing by redeeming it all and then restoring our life, making it stronger and more beautiful than before.
