Let me remind you of the purpose of prayer: Prayer is the conduit through which thepower and provision of God flow into the circumstances of earth. Prayer is NOT a mantra or a set of magic “abra-cadabra” words that will transform all of life into a fairy tale that you author. Prayer is bigger and better than that. Through prayer, God is working in your life to accomplish all of His purpose
for you and for others in your life and for generations to follow. Some of that purpose is accomplished through difficulty. What you can be sure of is this:God will not allow any circumstance into your life that has purpose other than for your benefit. All of His plans for you are good, and all of His plans for you are designed to give you a future and a hope.
From Vessel to Vessel
“Moab has been at ease since his youth;He has also been undisturbed, like wine on its dregs,And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,Nor has he gone into exile.Therefore he retains his flavorAnd his aroma has not changed” (Jer. 48:11, New American Standard Bible)
The Scripture is the living Word of God, so even thosepassages addressed to a particular audience in a specific time regarding aunique event have layers of meaning. Even those passages that are spoken withinthe context of time echo into eternity, speaking fresh truth to God’s people inany given moment.
This passage is describing the nation of Moab regardingsituation framed in time. But it speaks to me through the present Voice of theLiving God.
God says that Moab has been left undisturbed. He isdescribing what a person is like who has never been challenged and forced toface disappointment or disruption of his life. He is like wine on its dregs.Wine left to sit on its dregs becomes bitter and harsh. It is unpalatable. Itis useless.
The art of winemaking involves stages. A wine must be movedfrom vessel to vessel along the way. Each stage of winemaking requires a vesselof different size, shape, and construction. Each stage accomplishes somethingdifferent for the final product—the wine that is becoming. At each stage, thedregs have settled to the bottom and must be strained out to prevent the ruinof the wine. The stage at which a wine must be emptied from one vessel toanother is not a static and predictable period. Only the winemaker can tell.
God, the Great Winemaker, is fermenting a rich and perfectwine in you. Do you feel yourself being emptied from vessel to vessel? You getused to the shape and the feel of your life, and then find yourself beingemptied out. During part of the process, you have been poured out, but notpoured in yet. You know that your old vessel has been emptied out, but you donot feel yourself having arrived in a new vessel yet. There is a transitionperiod, a pouring. It is disorienting and uncertain. Then you find yourselfpoured into a life of a completely different shape and size and made up of newmaterials. It is new to you and it doesn’t feel like it fits.
Learn the ways of the Winemaker. Don’t be discouraged orfrightened when the shape of your life and the construction of your days seemto be changing. God will not let you sit on your dregs. Unlike Moab, you willnot stay in the same place. You will not be locked into your immaturity,retaining the same aroma as in your youth. He is ripening you, fermenting you,enriching you.
Rejoice! You are being emptied from vessel to vessel.
Adapted from Fueled by Faith by Jennifer Kennedy Dean.
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