Home Again, or New Wineskins

At baggage claim, upon arrival at the Manila International Airport

Nor do they pour new wine into old wineskins,

or else the wineskins break,

the wine is spilled,
and the wineskins are ruined.

But they put new wine into new wineskins,

and both are preserved.

Matthew 9:17

A final glimpse of Suvarnabhumi...

Our flight from Bangkok touched down at the Ninoy Aquino (Manila) International Airport yesterday at 2:00 o'clock p.m.

Thirty minutes before the plane landed, we experienced turbulence. Outside the window I could see nothing but thick white clouds. The captain said the turbulence was due to strong winds.

What a relief it was to finally get out of the air pockets and have a glimpse of the blue sky and soft white clouds outside the window.

Just a few minutes before touchdown...

The landing was quite smooth...just as I know everything will be eventually, as we begin the process of re-entry and getting re-settled.

Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila

But at this point, I don't exactly know what awaits me. Honestly, I feel like I'm always being poured off from one container to another. Barely have I settled down before it's time to pour me off again into another vessel.

I was reading a Bob Sorge book not too long ago, and he explained a passage in Jeremiah 48:11 that helped me understand what God is doing in my life. It says:

Moab has been at ease from his youth; he has settled on his dregs, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent has not changed.

In this verse, Jeremiah is actually speaking of an important process in winemaking,

where wine is allowed to settle in a container and then is poured off into another container, while the dregs that have settled at the bottom of the first container are thrown away. If wine is not removed from its dregs, it will not ferment and mature properly but will become bitter and distasteful. The process of being poured from vessel to vessel, while unsettling, is thus absolutely necessary if the wine is to be pleasing.

God is saying of Moab that the nation is very distasteful to Him because they haven't been poured from vessel to vessel....

(An excerpt from Bob Sorge's book, The Fire of Delayed Answers)

Yes, it is unsettling, but I must accept that this is part of the maturing process - being poured off from vessel to vessel.







This is called decanting, a process of carefully moving wine from its vessel into a decanter, leaving behind the heaviest parts, such as solids or possibly, another liquid. If done correctly, the sediments and residue, also called "dregs," formed at the bottom will be left behind.

This process is said to open up the wine and allows it to breathe faster than it would otherwise. Oxygen must reach the wine for a smoother, more mellow, finish.

God is continually calling His disciples out of the comfort zone.

The question always boils down to this: Am I willing to be re-shaped and re-fashioned into the Master's redeemed version of me?

It is not easy, but my answer is always the same: Yes, I am willing.

He is constantly bringing me to deeper waters, uncharted territories, the unknown.

I've told God that I will not be known as a comfort zone, status quo, don't-rock-my-boat Christian.

I don't even mean to sound so heroic or martyr-like; I am far from being one.

It's a slow, painful process. Sometimes I have found myself wishing I could be like some Christians I know who seem to lead such predictable, comfortable lives.

But then again, no. I could never go back to that kind of unruffled existence.

If I want to mature before God as fragrant wine, then I need to be ready to be poured out again and agin, the dregs of my life being discarded, until I become the wine that fits the Master's specifications: clear, smooth, mellow.

Next, comes the important business of replacing the old wineskins...

It's good to be back home.