Stay Deep in the Vine

by Victoria Gaines
Published September 22, 2006

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser." ~ John 15:1

It's easy for others to tell us that trouble leads to blessing when they aren't the ones hurting. But as we learn to abide in Him over the years, we experience this peculiar paradox. Just listen to the saints who've walked before us. You'll hear again and again: when we don't waste our sorrows, and trust in Christ completely, our pain is transformed into something we never expected.

"In every time of sharp pruning, when the knife is deep and the pain is sore, it is an unspeakable comfort to read, 'My Father is the husbandman.'" ~ Mrs. Charles E. Cowman, Streams from the Desert .

A doctor once told of a hothouse where an abundance of grape clusters were hanging on every side. Before the grapes grew to such proportions, the owner's gardener had to cut the vines down to the stalk. There weren't any grapes at all for two years, but eventually they witnessed a luscious display. There are 'prunings' in our life, too. "Pruning seems to be destroying the vine, the gardener appears to be cutting it all away; but he looks on into the future and knows that the final outcome will be the enrichment of its life and greater abundance of fruit. There are blessings we can never have unless we are ready to pay the price of pain. There is no way to reach them save through suffering" ~ Dr. Miller, from Streams in the Desert.
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Hannah Whitall Smith once wrote that, when planted in grace, our spiritual growth becomes vigorous and rapid beyond all conceiving. "For grace is a most fruitful soil, and the plants that grow therein are plants of a marvelous growth. They are tended by a divine Husbandman, warmed by the Sun of Righteousness, and watered by the dew of heaven."

The Lord has to cultivate the soil of our hearts to bring us to maturity. Our part is to stay connected to Him.

"The slightest barrier between your soul and Christ may cause you to dwindle and fade, as a plant in a cellar or under a bushel. Keep the sky clear: Open wide every avenue of your being to receive the blessed influences your divine Husbandman may bring to bear on you. Bask in the sunshine of His love. Drink of the waters of His goodness. Keep your face upturned to Him, as the flowers do to the sun" ~ Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough.

"I walked a mile with Pleasure,
She chattered all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

"I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne'er a word said she;
But, oh, the things I learned from her
When sorrow walked with me."
( Streams in the Desert)

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