April 2

“One of the greatest obstacles to an unwavering experience in the spiritual life is the difficulty of seeing God in everything.  People say, ‘I can easily submit to things that I know come from God--but I cannot submit to man, and most of my troubles come through other men and women!’ ”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Safe Within Your Love, pg. 135

God’s not going to let me leave this subject I see! Hannah went on to say what is needed is to see God in everything and to receive everything directly from His hands. After writing yesterday’s devotion I found myself struggling once again with those things not within my control.  So I was up early reading my Bible and was led to the passage in Mark 2:22 where Jesus said you wouldn’t put new wine into old wineskins because it would cause them to break.  This made sense, but then I read the same passage in Luke 5:39 that adds, “And no one after drinking old wine desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”  I know enough about wine to know old does taste better.  But if the new wine represents Christ and the new wineskin is our redeemed lives, what could this “old wine is better” mean?  And how did this relate to what Hannah was showing me?  Our "old skin”, the old man, will always want the old wine so we can’t pour the new wine into the old wineskin.  Therefore, as new creatures in Christ, everything that is poured into our lives will be this “new wine”, Christ Himself--and yes, it may taste bitter at first because it hasn’t aged yet--but this is the work of faith, to make it sweet.

“How sweet are thy words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”  Psalm 119:103