Where Did The Fruit Go? By Bryan Craig

And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.”  So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.  Revelation 14:18-19

On the last morning of our fantastic Influencers Summit, I told the men that it’s easy to want to stay on the “mountaintop” where love flows freely, where God seems so near, and where it feels safe and peaceful.  I reminded them of the story when Jesus took Peter, James and John to the mountaintop and He was transfigured in front of their eyes, and they got to spend time with Moses and Elijah, as well.  How powerful that must have been!  Peter wanted to build three shelters so they could stay there, but quickly realized that was not the plan.  Jesus had a Cross awaiting Him that would fulfill His mission.  Interestingly, Moses himself had quite a few God-encounters on the mountaintop.  He, too, had to descend down to a sinful people who rebelled against him and God.  Elijah, too, met God in a gentle whisper on a mountaintop, while fearing for his life.  God encouraged him but told him to go back down to the place where he was a wanted man. 

I knew from past experiences myself of former mountaintops and the difficulty of going back down to the valley.  However, I’ve also learned that it is in the valley where He needs us to do His work, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable it may be. 

I didn’t realize how close to home my own words would hit, as I returned to some stormy waters and difficulties.  Just as we had challenged our men to “Come to Him”, to “Abide with Him”, to “Make Disciples with Him”, to “Watch with Him”, to “Die with Him” and to “Live for Him”, I found myself being challenged whether I would practice what I preach. The overall theme, “Come to Me” was based on Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Within 24 hours, I found myself feeling weary and burdened.  At one point, as I was tempted to throw myself a Pity Party, I told the Lord that I did not feel love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…I rattled off the “fruits of the Spirit” from Galatians 5:22-23. “Have you left me, Lord?” I questioned.  Thankfully, God is SO patient with me.  It was as if He shook his head, with a gentle smile, and said, “No, Bryan, you gave away all of that fruit at the Summit. Now, it’s time to replenish.” 

It was the first time I had taken the John 15 Vine and Branch analogy even further.  Jesus wants us to bear fruit, just like you would see on a healthy branch…big, juicy clusters.  But what good are they if they stay on the branch.  No, there are harvesters who cut off the fruit to be enjoyed.  So, when you see a grapevine, with no fruit on it, don’t assume it’s a dead branch.  Perhaps it has recently been harvested, and it just needs the fruit-bearing process to be repeated within it.

This really blessed me and encouraged me to think about this.  It reminded me of what I already knew.  The next step is to Abide with Him and let him rebuild me.  Then, as the Holy Spirit often does, He built on this theme as I read an Oswald Chambers devotional, based on Matthew 11:28-30.   This is one quote from it:

“The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). If we didn’t know some saintly people personally, we might be tempted to think that their pleasant and peaceful demeanor means they have nothing to bear. Lift the veil. The fact that the peace and the light and the joy of God are there is proof that the burden is there too. If your burden is weighing on you just now, remember that no power on earth or in hell can defeat the Spirit of God inside a human spirit. To be born again in the Spirit is to gain an inner invincibility. Recall this to your mind whenever you find yourself beginning to grumble. If you have the whine in you, kick it out. It is positively a crime to be weak in God’s strength.  Oswald Chambers

Burdens and fruit go together.  God uses burdens to discipline us, to prune us, to sift us and to USE US!   I then remembered this scene in Revelation 14:18-19 as it talks about the angels using sharp sickles to gather the clusters of grapes from the earth.  They then become a sacrifice to the Lord as they are crushed into wine.

As I shared my burdens with the Lord, and with a few other trusted brothers, I began to slowly feel a lift in my spirit and my outlook, and I began to see my burdens as opportunities to glorify Him and to bear even more fruit.  I felt His pleasure and His joy and His strength and His Spirit…and before I knew it, grapes started to appear.