Poured from Experience to Experience

“Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another— she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged. Jeremiah 48:11

God said, ‘Moab has been at ease from his youth; he has settled on his dregs, and has not been emptied [poured] from vessel to vessel…Therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent [aroma] has not changed.’ This Scripture paints two pictures for us; one is natural and the other is spiritual. In the natural picture, we see how wine is made by being poured from one vessel into another. In the spiritual picture, we see how God changes us by pouring us from one experience into another. And just as in winemaking, when the wine is poured out of one vessel into another, it leaves behind the dregs which must be removed in order to produce good vintage.

Similarly, God will permit you to be poured into situations that reveal your weaknesses so that you can work on them. And no matter how uncomfortable it is or how badly you want to escape, God won’t let you until your issues have been dealt with successfully. How will you know when that’s so? Because as you enter your next experience, you will leave them behind you.

In the winemaking process, the wine doesn’t spend the same amount of time in each vessel. That’s because each vessel serves a different purpose. Only the winemaker knows the purpose of each vessel, and therefore determines the amount of time needed in it. If you’re being poured from one experience into another, read this: ‘Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ’ (Philippians 1:6)

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me remember that the “pouring out” in experiences is Your way to refine me. Thank You, Jesus. In Your precious name, Amen.