One of the first things that I found to be important for me to is to know that we go through different seasons in life. This is just like in the vineyards.
There is a season of newness where the vines are being planted and sprouting all kinds of new buds for grapes and leaves. There is pruing to be done in this season.
There is a season of growth where there are leaves in full bloom and where the grapes are growing and the fruit is multiplying.
There is the season of harvest when the fruit has come to fullness and it is time to take that fruit and use it for it's purpose.
Then there is the season of dormancy. This comes after harvest and the vines are dorment for a time due to the winter. There is not growth that can be seen on the outside. This is also the time where there is heavy duty pruning that is done by the farmers. They really get in there and cut off vines that are dead and cut back the fruitful vines so that they can produce even more fruit the next season.
I know in my life...I have been through this process many times just like the seasons come each year. I think it is important not to get discouraged if you do not feel like you are growing and producing fruit like you want. God's timing is perfect and His ways are higher than ours. Just like the seasons, you will see much growth at some points in your life and then there are the times of dormancy (after harvest) where there is a lot of work to do in your life. This is a painful process, but a very necessary process. I have learned I have to let go the control I try to have and let God be in complete control.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-14
A Time for Everything
1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do people really get for all their hard work? 10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. 11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. 12 So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. 13 And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.
14 And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. 15 What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.
3 comments:
Very true! Did you ever read Secrets of the Vine? You summed that up rather nicely.
Yes...I have that book and have recently read through it again. That book and several other commentaries on this John 15 passage are what I studied...along with life experience to help pass along the message that John 15 has been to my life.
we had a Viticulturalist come speak at our church, that is someone who works at the vineyard.
it was interesting to hear him talk. he brought a vine of leaves and grapes he had cut the day before and it was withered and dead.
our preacher asked him,"what would it have taken for this branch to live?"
the guy said, "it just has to stay connected on the vine to live"
that statement was so good for me because sometimes i can make things so much about what i am or am not doing, but in reality it is just about staying connected to the vine.
love your posts!
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