In the crushing, in the pressing You are making New Wine
When I trust in you, I don’t need to understand
Make me a vessel, make me an offering
Make me whatever you want me to be
Jesus bring new wine out of me
Where there is new wine, there is new power
There is new freedom, and the Kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames to carry your new fire
New wine. New power. New freedom. New fire. This song has really struck a chord in my heart. When I came on the Race I was ready to be made new. I wanted to change and be transformed by the Holy Spirit. I wanted to be the woman the Lord had intended all along. I really embraced this change. It was hard, that’s for sure. It’s hard to change life long habits of gossip, or dishonorable talk about others. It’s not easy to find joy in ALL things, trust me. It was my first repsonse to complain. It’s easy to coast Sunday to Sunday, not truly asking the Lord what he has for us each and every day; but the Race allows you the opportunity to say yes to whatever God has for you each and every day. But just like anything, it’s tough to want to keep going after you’ve done the same thing over and over. Endurance isn’t a trait we are born with, we must learn it. That ain’t easy.
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,”
??Romans? ?5:3-4? ?ESV??
On the Race, you have a choice every morning when you wake up. Choose Spirit or flesh. Choose to look more like Christ or like yourself. Choose to listen to your teammates when they tell you the same story ten times. Choose to give away your last bit of shampoo because someone else ran out. Choose to let your squadmate wear that one piece of clothing you were saving because you wanted to keep it smelling somewhat decent. Choose to say yes when all you want is to say no. (God gives us these opportunities at home too, don’t worry)
Month One, it’s hard but you say yes because we are all learning to die to ourselves and look more like Christ. Month Four, its become more normal so it’s not so hard to let someone borrow your favorite hat to go to the beach (thanks Julie for not losing it and returning in one piece 🙂 ) Month Seven, it’s a bit harder to share a bathroom with six other girls. But you do it because the Lord is producing endurance. Month Eight, you seem to get a little more stingy when your teammate asks for one of your Diet Cokes and a spoonful of your peanut butter but you give it away anyways. That puts us at Month Ten, the present month I’m walking through.
Month ten, you seem to be impatient with every little thing that your team says. You seem to be annoyed that the toilet seat has been left up again, even after you’ve asked 100 times for it to be put down. For me month ten has been a constant fight between Spirit and flesh. It seems to get harder and harder to choose Christ in every situation. “In the crushing, the pressing …. you’re making new wine” It seems like all of my teammates are out to annoy me as much as they can for next three weeks that we are a team (they definitely aren’t). I read something last week, “you start a new season in life the way you finished the last one”. Woah. Ok, God, I see you. So what you’re saying is that if I end this season with bitterness and empathy then that’s how I’ll start my transition back home? I don’t want that.
This song struck a chord with me because there can only be new wine, new power, new freedom after God has crushed and pressed it out of me. Or us.
“Make me whatever you want me to be”
That can only happen if we allow God to mold and shape us. And that doesn’t always feel good. Actually, I have yet to feel good when God points out an area in my life that I could use some work to look more like Him. But when I let Him press and crush me into what He wants, that’s when I see new freedom and new power. After I’ve pushed past the hard and uncomfortable, that’s when I start to see the fruit God has been producing. When I choose Spirit over flesh in the toughest situations is when I see the new wine. It’s when I see Kingdom come. It’s when I see that l new flame God has me carrying.
Month Ten, a month where my flesh tried to steal all that God was doing in me. A time where I learned to recognize the schemes of the enemy (again). A month where I am choosing to love the others around me, no matter what. A month where I’ve learned to pray without ceasing because I need the Lord’s strength to make it through all this pressing and crushing.
In a nutshell, endurance ain’t pretty or easy but it’s always worth it to look more like Christ in the end.
With love, sav
Ps– we have some awesome opportunities to spend month 11 trying to transition back to real life, instead of World Race filled with a busy schedule, but our squad needs to raise an extra $3 a day for each squadmate. The GoFundMe link is on my Facebook page, if you feel like donating just to over and check that out!! Unfortunately it isn’t tax deductible but you will be building treasures in Heaven which is way cooler!!!
