In the Wine Press

Our pastor’s wife, Denise, shares a devotion about the pressure we sometimes experience in women’s ministry:

A wine press is a device used to extract juice from crushed grapes during wine making. There are many different kinds, but basically every wine press exerts pressure that will free the juice from the fruit. The wine press pictured continuously forces the grapes up against the barrel wall, applying pressure on the grapes until the juice is flowing. I can image that the grape, if it could think, might be a little discouraged, being forced up against that wall, particularly if it was unaware that there was a purpose for the pressure.

God says in Zech. 13:9b “I will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them” Isaiah 48:10 adds that God will test us in the furnace of affliction. God tries and proves our minds and hearts (Psalm 26:2). In ministry, we may find ourselves in the heat of a refiner’s fire, the furnace of affliction and the wine press. Will we draw close to the Lord and call on His name?

Often, in the intense preparations for a women’s event, we find all of our leaders “in the wine press.” Family and personal issues are putting pressure on them in addition to the demands of the upcoming event. Will we continue to serve Him while the pressure is on us, or will we give up? As the wine press exerts pressure on us, will we produce sour or sweet wine?