Wild Grapes

Author’s note:
Confession: I am a major perfectionist when it comes to writing, and honestly, sometimes [oftentimes] it really hinders me. I’ll think of something that I want to write, want to share, begin writing it, and then never finish and actually post it because it feels incomplete. As a result, over the years, there have been countless drafts that have never seen the light of day; many that have since been deleted.
I was going through the few drafts that currently remain and found this; begun in July 2017 and never finished due to feeling incomplete. If I’m honest, it still feels incomplete to me, but yet, I find it complete enough that I can’t bare to delete it. So, here it is, in all its [not so] glory.

A few of my co-workers and I have a video chat every week to encourage one another, share our struggles, and glorify Jesus together. (Can I just say how incredibly thankful I am to be a part of an organization that is one big crazy family and places a high value on doing life together? In a career that is the definition of counter-cultural, being in community is so crucial.)

One of the things that we’ve been doing in our group lately is a chapter-by-chapter study of the book of Hosea. Hosea is an incredibly beautiful book, but many of its chapters can also be hard to swallow at first glance because they’re laden with talks of punishment and retribution. Even that, though, is, in fact, a sign of God’s love, grace, and sovereignty because He, like a good parent, knows what is best for us. After all, we know how kids whose parents don’t discipline them turn out.

This past week, we came to chapter 9, which is probably the harshest chapter yet, and although we know it was for their (and our) own good, it still makes a person grateful to not have lived in the days of the Old Testament but in the New Creation. But there was something in verse 10 that jumped out at me.

The first part says, “I found Israel Like grapes in the wilderness.” (The Amplified adds “an unexpected and refreshing delight,” and the Voice adds “a rare find”.) If you complete the verse, God is comparing how Israel used to be to how they were at that time; in other words, they used to be good, and now they aren’t. Sounds like a depressing read. But because we live in the New Creation; because we have been covered by the blood of Jesus, which means that when God looks at us, He doesn’t see our sin or depravity but only the beauty and perfection of Christ, the good part is what applies to us. Even better, though, it’s far more than just good. When God looks at us, it’s like finding grapes in the wilderness.

Imagine wandering through the desert. It’s sandy. It’s extremely hot. There’s probably a hot wind blowing sand all around you and all over you–into your eyes, your nose, your mouth, your ears, into your clothing (even in places you’re completely unsure how it got there…speaking from experience here). It’s barren; there’s no shade, no water, no forms of sustenance anywhere, and every direction you turn looks exactly the same. Sounds pretty hopeless. You’re hot, tired, thirsty, and hungry. But then, you miraculously come upon a vine covered in perfectly ripe grapes. How would that make you feel?

Have you ever watched any of those survival shows? What happens whenever the people/person have been out there for a while and finally manage to find or catch food? Sometimes it’s fish, if they’re lucky, but usually it’s something weird like snake or rat or turtle or worse. Most likely, they’re cooking it until it’s super well-done, because in a situation like that, the last thing you want to risk is getting sick from undercooked meat, and obviously they have nothing to season it with.

If I handed you a plate of over-cooked, unseasoned mystery meat right now, you wouldn’t touch it. But without fail, on every one of those shows, they remark, “Yum!” “Oh, this is so good!” “Mmmm!” “This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten.” THAT is what that verse is saying. Israel was the best thing that ever happened to God. And THAT is how God looks at YOU.

“You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you.” – John 15:16 AMP