Forged by life

 Here is my servant, whom I uphold.........a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench. Isaiah 24:1-3 (paraphrased)

There is something so peaceful about looking across a valley with rows and rows of regimented grape vines. Its a picture perfect scene and even the mist seems to be suspended in the air and I reflected on an elderly lady  I had visited recently.  She is a person of faith, forged by life and living with aging issues, failing strength and health. To look on her one would thing she may well be suffering yet her smile, when she lifts her arthritic neck is radiant and her eyes are alive.  She is an inspiration.  As I continued to ponder the vineyard I realised that like grapes there is a process to go through in life. Its a 'crushing' process, a refining process and the strength of faith is in the fact that even while we are being crushed, we are still being used, and we are still 'hanging in there 'with God and its then I see the strength of the elderly lady.

There is a profound saying which says:  It is the crushed grape that yields the wine.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace

Anne, servant of the Lord

'Peace'