Under His Feet

I have not put up a blog post in ages. Nor have I journaled much lately, except in the form of texts to close family or friends where I vent or share.

In all honesty, I’ve had the blahs lately, the spiritual blahs. There is so much I could write, but I’ll try to keep it simple. As I was texting a friend this very thing, I felt a reminder come into my thoughts, “ it’s just more training ground.” I’ve heard that before. I know it is true. And I’ve encouraged others in similar states of being. Even in times when we feel alone in a dry desert, that place can in fact be God’s training ground. As I write, I can’t help but recall Jesus’s 40 days in the wilderness. And I can’t begin to imagine what it felt like for Joseph when he was in prison in Egypt. Dark, alone and away from everything familiar. Wow. The thought overwhelms me, knowing the rest of his story. (see the end of the book of Genesis).

I won’t go into my personal “stuff”, but I was reminded again of two images… the first was of God at His potter’s wheel, reshaping, remaking, adding water to soften the clay. Sometimes He even breaks the vessel and starts over. The other image was of grapes being made into wine. The picture in my head was so colorful and clear( I wish I could paint because I would paint it and use that to illustrate this blog post). The grapes are deep purple, in a big vat of some sort. The setting is outside and the surroundings are lush in a vineyard that is flourishing. The one with bare feet and crushing the grapes is Jesus. Just Jesus. And He’s smiling. He’s joyful and even dancing at times as He does this. It is a process though, and a messy one. We are the grapes and are being crushed by Him to be made into wine. The vineyard belongs to Jesus and the wine bottles are marked with His image and His name.

One of my favorite readings is from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. The quotes are these, “If ever we are going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed; you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.” And “….let Him do what He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.”

I won’t remain in a dry place. And if you are finding yourself there too, just remember there are simply grapes that are being crushed. Jesus has plans for us, and He knows exactly what He’s doing.