::new wine::

New Wine

Words and Music by Brooke Ligertwood

VERSE 1:
In the crushing
In the pressing
You are making new wine
In the soil I now surrender
You are breaking new ground

PRE-CHORUS:
So I yield to You and to Your careful hand
When I trust You I don’t need to understand

CHORUS:
Make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus bring new wine out of me

VERSE 2:
In the crushing
In the pressing
You are making new wine
In the soil I now surrender
You are breaking new ground

VERSE TAG:
You are breaking new ground

BRIDGE:
Where there is new wine
There is new power
There is new freedom
The Kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames
To carry Your new fire today

Fairly recently, I told a friend of mine that an anniversary (of sorts) was coming up.  That anniversary marks THE YEAR.  And I am choosing to make a conscious decision at that year to just let some stuff go.

Stuff (defined): emotional baggage, hurt, pain, anger, general frustration, victim mentality, source of excuse

Last year, nobody understood why I was angry and hurt.  Truthfully, I didn’t understand the magnitude of it either.  I had been hurt by church people before – surely, I could get over this.  WRONG.  I got in, under, and wrapped up in my pain, but never over it.  I festered.  I seethed.  I threw a couple of pity parties.  Even invited friends if I thought they’d join in.

When the dust settled, I still felt mangled and angry.  I said I was forgiving.  I really was trying.  But forgiveness as an adult can be hard because we are so dang stubborn, and then psychoanalyze everything we do as “building walls”.  

Y’ALL I have spouted building walls until I’m blue in the face.

We are dumb.

But I still had to forgive.   I am commanded to forgive.  

But his song struck me this week, because it is my prayer and my hope:

Make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus bring new wine out of me

I will be the first to admit that I have 10,000 “I don’t know” answers to my questions, but I am confident in this:

I know whose I am.

I know who is in control.

And I know that new wine is coming.

And no more stuff.  I'm holding tight to my anniversary.