Henri Nouwen writes in his book, Can You Drink the Cup?
“When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become.”
That is so true! There will be things that will crush us. We too will feel like we are being pressed in on every side...or fermenting...or aging...but God is using this time for our good. Apostle Paul knew this first hand. He writes in 2 Corinthians 4:7-12,
"If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!"
In his ministry of around 32 years after God pulled him aside, changed his name and placed him on a new path, Paul suffered greatly. He was arrested and treated harshly then put in prison. He was shipwrecked, bitten by a snake and then in prison again. Then after that, he was under house arrest. Only later to be executed. He writes in 2 Corinthians 11:21-29,
"Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I’m their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can’t believe I’m saying these things. It’s crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I’m going to finish.)
I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.
Whew. That is a lot going on! His writing is important to read in the Bible because it reminds us that when we are being crushed, we are becoming new wine. What a beautiful perspective. Apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:6-8,
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
Nouwen goes on to say, “Drinking our cup is not simply adapting ourselves to a bad situation and trying to use it as well as we can. Drinking our cup is a hopeful, courageous, and self-confident way of living. It is standing in the world with head erect, solidly rooted in the knowledge of who we are, facing the reality that surrounds us and responding to it from our hearts.”
So, whatever it is that you are going through, however, it is that you feel crushed, pressed down, or pummeled God is with you. You are not forgotten. Do you feel stressed? Reach out in prayer to God and spend time in his Word. His mercy is NEW every morning and his faithfulness to you reaches as high as the sky! (Lamentations 3:22-23) God is for you! He is all about you and the hardships are turning you into new fine wine! That is a good thing.
