The Stressed Vine
by Dr. Michael Wells
After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned . . . strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
— ACTS 14: 21, 22
In California are several fruit-tree farmers I am honored to call friends and brothers in Christ. In the midst of the tree farms are the great vineyards of Gallo wines. The grapevines are flooded at the right time; fertilizer and bug spray are added, and generally these plants are quite pampered to produce great clumps of grapes that are used to make $7.00 bottles of wine. In one section of the vineyards are found areas of very special vines that were frozen nearly to the point of death before being planted, and then their water and fertilizer are withheld; they are watched carefully to see that they constantly remain on the verge of death. The end results are very petite grapes, which, because they have been stressed, are packed with flavor and fragrance and are used to produce $200 bottles of wine.
I like to parallel the condition of the stressed grapes with the existence of many believers who submit gladly to God when He is producing stressed fruit in their lives. Job looked at others who believed in God and wondered at the ease of their life. They had become “the big vines” with less problems, no experience of loss nearly like his, and with much fruit. However, it was not $200 fruit. A stressed grape takes more care, and in that the stressed believer can rejoice, remembering that God is watching over him with special attention!
“I wanted to update the ministry’s logo while at the same time honor my dad. As I was thinking about the logo and the mission of ALMI, it reminded me of the tree my dad loved in the mountains near our cabin. The tree had been hit by lightning and the trunk had this really cool twist to it, appearing to have turned around to grow down before returning to reach skyward. He always said it reminded him of our walk with Jesus, because we can feel like we are veering off the path, but God is teaching us in the twist and always–in His timing–bringing us back to Him. Using the whole tree in the logo was a great representation of John 15, since it shows the whole fruit, vine, and parts that have been pruned. A lot of gratitude goes to Dean Piersee for working with me to create this logo. When I saw the finished product, I was in tears because it brought to life every element I had wanted to incorporate.”
– Noah Wells
ANOINTED TO SERVE - Miriam Jacob 