FROM WHERE?

I will bring her into the wilderness and give her her vineyards from there.  Hosea 2:14-15

            A wilderness does not seem to be a suiting environment for a vineyard.  I often want to tweak the concepts from scripture so that they make more sense to me.  So, consider this paraphrase.  “God will deliver me from the wilderness and will give me a vineyard on new land.”  Doesn’t this sound more feasible?

However, God says that in the waste places, the territory from which we yearn to escape, there is fruit to be had.  When the sun scorches and we languish of thirst, we really live in a field that is capable of producing a rich harvest.  The seedlings for the vineyard are composed of the wisdom we learned the hard way.  They are the treasures of darkness that Isaiah talks about in his writing.

Perhaps 2010 was your year in the wilderness.  It could just be that 2011 is your year of blessing, your year of fruitful reward after walking faithfully in the searing heat. You didn’t believe at the time that your suffering was beneficial, that any good could possibly come of it.  But such is the mirage of the desert.  The winds of pain blind us to the totality of what is really happening.  The inner transformation, wrought by the Spirit, is obscured by our discomfort.

There are years of my life I would absolutely hate to repeat.  I look back and wonder that I survived.  I can tell you though, that on this side of them, I recognize the lessons I learned.  I wouldn’t trade the treasures of the night for anything in this world.

Be encouraged.  Our God is a God of the night, the Lord of the desert.  He oversees our vineyard with wisdom and always with an eye for the good of our future.  Nothing we suffer is in vain.

Only You can transform a wilderness for my good.  No wonder I worship You.  You are my God and there is none other.  Amen