This One Is My Favorite, Part 2

To Read Part 1, Click Here.

At some point during our tasting, possibly as he poured our third wine, I had an epiphany. Sure, you might chalk it up to the wine, but all of a sudden—I know this is going to sound a little strange so bear with me—I realized that this winery owner was reminding me of God.

Where all the other wineries we had visited that weekend in the Finger Lakes, let us choose what wines we liked best, this vineyard owner didn’t. Where none of the people working at the other wineries even attempted to suggest a selection—unless we asked—this man was literally pouring his choices into our glasses. And they were amazing.

In our world, like at the other vineyards we visited that weekend, we have so many choices. And in love, God has given us the freedom to make them. He has even given us the choice to acknowledge Him or not. But when we choose to believe in and trust Him with our lives, it is no longer us making the choices. We are trusting the one who created all that is good, to lead us to the best. When we choose Him, He is the owner of the vineyard who sets out His choice wine for us.

The owner/agronomist of the vineyard we visited, knew his wines better than anyone else. He knew where the grapes for each wine had been grown, how they had been fermented, and even what order to drink them. He knew the quality of his wines and he wanted us to experience them the best way possible. Though our tasting that afternoon should have only included five tastings—he gave us much more, the way only the owner of a vineyard could.

When we seek God in prayer, He is like the owner of this winery. He doesn’t waste time asking us what we want (He already knows). No, rather He pulls out the things we need—and the things he knows we will enjoy the most. He doesn’t give us stingy pours in small glasses, but he pulls out the best and serves us from a place of abundance. He pours out of love and passion, waiting to see our reaction.

God, who created our world and everything in it, is and has the best that life has to offer. And He wants us to experience it all. But it requires us giving up our ability to control our life. It requires trusting the maker of the wine to give us His best.

When Jesus was on this earth, His very first miracle was at a wedding. In His time, weddings went on for days. At this particular one, they ran out of wine long before the party was to end. So his mother coaxed him into saving the day. She instructed the servants of the house to do whatever He told them. He said to fill six large stone jars (big enough to hold twenty to thirty gallons), with water. Then He told them to take a sample of the water to the master of the banquet. When they did, the master said:

“Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now (John 2:10).”

When God provides for us, it is always the best and it always in abundance. Standing around the table at the winery that afternoon, I was reminded of this. Sometimes, because God doesn’t always answer us when or how we want, we forget that He is good. We forget that He wants the best for us. And we forget His ability to provide for us is beyond what we can imagine.