"He Gives Us Wine To Gladden Our Hearts"

I think sometimes we are afraid to pray because we think God is going to ask us to do something we don’t want to do, give up something we don’t want to give up, change something we don’t want to change, or add to the sense of guilt we already carry around us like a heavy burden.

But Jesus says, “My yoke is easy and my burden light”.  What does this mean?  Let me tell you a story of something that happened to me recently.

As I mentioned in my last post, money has been a little tight, and I’d recently resolved to really stay within our budget… hard core… like Dave Ramsey style.

My husband was working late several nights in a row and I had felt fried, frustrated, and desperately wanted a glass of wine.  I white-knuckled it for a few nights, but after a particularly bad day with the kids, I stopped and bought a bottle of my favorite red, Menage a Trois.

This wasn’t in the “spending plan”, but compared to a trip to the looney bin, I figured it was cheap therapy. J I did have a hint of lingering guilt however.

After I finally got the kids to bed, and poured myself a glass, I remembered that the next day was  my women’s bible study on The Mass by Dr. Edward Sri.  I knew I didn’t have the mental or spiritual capacity to do all the reading and prep that I was supposed to do, but I figured I’d at least look at the one question that I specifically had been assigned.  This is what I read:

“You bring bread forth from the earth and wine to gladden our hearts” – Psalm 104:15

“Wine is very life to man if taken in moderation. Does he really live who lacks the wine which was created for his joy?” – Sirach 31:27

“Chief of all needs for human life are water and fire, iron and salt, The heart of the wheat, milk and honey, the blood of the grape, and oil and cloth” Sirach 39:26

And I smiled and laughed and felt very loved by such a tender and gentle God who has such a great sense of humor.  And I decided that despite all my Bible Studies, and classes, and years of doing ministry, I still don’t really know God.  He surprises me and is not who I expect sometimes.

So while I fall into the trap sometimes of thinking of prayer as one more thing on a long list of personal needs that I have trouble finding the time to meet, I am reminded when I do take the time that this is not just one more task to cross off the list. This is about relationship with a God who loves me.

And I added a line item in our spending plan for wine. J