Prodigal: I want to hear a story to celebrate this special day.
Me: I will give you a true story that is very special!
It was September 14th 2018, and it was that time of year that makes you pay close attention to the weather forecast. See, my family is from the east coast of North Carolina where hurricanes do hit. We just don’t know how often, or how strong. The hurricane that year was Florence. She had quickly strengthened to a grade 4 hurricane, but by the time she would hit, she would be at a grade 2. They were predicting a lot of rain though.
I was out of the area at that time, but had been watching, and tracking the storm by the internet. I looked on the radar, and I could see some of the first bands were going over my parents house. I called to check on them.
“Dad, how are you doing?” I said. “We are fine.” my dad said. ” Where is mom?” I said. “She’s out yonder walking in the storm.” “I told her to stay away from trees” replied my Dad with a sense of not understanding. “I will try to call her, I love you, bye.” I responded.
I attempted to call my mom with no response to her cell phone. I then decided to wait, and reach back out later. I waited 15 minutes, and then called back.
“Hi” responded my mom. “Where are you, and what were you doing?” I asked. “Well I took a walk over to Miss Libby’s, and I went to grape vine, and ate some of the grapes that were on the vine.” They were not as sweet as your grandmother’s, but they were good. I only got to eat a handful the rest were not ready yet.”
See I was watching the storm. I was tracking this storm. I was listening to several different sources about this storm. I was wondering what the storm was going to do. Would it be a bad storm? Would it leave much damage? I called, and wanted to know about the storm. I called, and wanted to know the experience of the storm.
My mom didn’t tell me about the storm. No, my mom told me about the vine, and the fruit of the vine.
See my mother is the daughter of a farmer. My Grandfather’s whole life was about the farm, and the crops. That was the focus. That was the topic everyday, and the crops were what was important. Crops provided money, food to eat, and a way of life. How the crops were determined a lot about the day, and week they were having.
Without realizing it, my mother just did what came natural from her relationship with her father. She went to the vine, and looked at the fruit. She knew the storm would take away the grapes. She did not want to waste that fruit.
In John 15 you read the following.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
See our Father in heaven is the true vine, and fruit comes from the Father. We represent our Father’s fruit. See some of you are in an emotional storm that is like a hurricane. Then some of you are watching that storm in a dear friend. Are you like me? Tracking that storm, trying to find out all the information you can about that storm? Are you like my mom? She is focused on the vine. She is focused on the fruit. She is just doing what comes natural because of the relationship with her father.
The storm does not matter as much. The storm is not as big as the vine, and the fruit on the vine. Others may think the storm is more important, but your Father is telling you that the fruit is.
Today, don’t be like me. No, I want you to be like my mom. Look more closely at that fruit.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
