As a part of my prayer and meditation yesterday, I meditated on a small but amazing part of God’s creation, a grape. Bringing a grape into my meditation was inspired by a post by Christine Sine called “Meditation Monday-Through the Eyes of an Apple” (read it here). She shared how a few days ago she was inspired by a sermon to meditate on God’s creation. So, she went and picked an apple, meditated on it, and then shared her observation. She reflected on what she saw, felt, heard, smelled, and tasted, and what this revealed to her about God and her own life.

It struck me that this is a practice deeply rooted in the way Jesus went about the world. He frequently tells people to observe the creation such as the birds and flowers and is constantly referring to fig trees, farmers, seeds, and plants in His teachings. His observations on the Creation always revealed something about God and life.

So, I decided to meditate on a grape from a grapevine that grows in my backyard. After some time in prayer, I walked out my back door to the grapevine at the very back near our alley. My kids were out there playing with my wife and as I moved toward the grapes, my wife asked me with some curiosity what I was up to. I don’t generally just walk out of the house and head to the back alley in the middle of the day. I shared that I was picking a grape and she informed me that the grapes aren’t ripe yet. 

My Not-So-Ripe Grape

Disappointed, I figured I had already set my mind on meditating on a grape so I might as well see what happens. I picked one from a cluster growing in the shade of the vine and brought it back into my office. As I walked and as I sat down, I rolled it around my fingers, observed it, and squeezed it. This grape truly wasn’t ripe. It was completely green, hard like a marble, and very small. I had hoped to get a mid-morning snack, but this grape was inedible.

With that said, it was still beautiful. It was amazing that this grape, while not ready to eat, was clearly on its way to being one really great grape. When I cut it open to check it out from the inside, it was clearly a strong grape with good seeds and meaty flesh that looked like it was going to be good.

As I observed all this, and experienced the sadness of not getting to actually eat my grape as a part of my meditation, I realized that God had a very different lesson for me in this grape than I might have planned.

It’s a Process

Here was a grape that was doing all the right things, was healthy, was connected to the vine, and was in the perfect spot. It just wasn’t ready to be eaten YET. It was on its way but needed more time. I’m used to simply showing up at the grocery store and buying grapes that are perfect and ready to eat. When you actually grow them yourself, however, you have to go through the whole process. I don’t know about you, but I’m not a big fan of long processes.

Yet they are necessary. I don’t just mean for fruit. We are all growing and all need time to get where God is inviting us to go. I am reminded of Moses who spent 40 years in Midian before God appeared to him in the burning bush and called him to lead Israel to freedom. Jesus didn’t begin His ministry until He was 30 years old. Song of Songs tells us “do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires” (Song of Songs 2:7).

As much as we humans desire instant results and immediate growth, the Bible seems to say that most things take time. Grapes don’t just appear at the store without going through a long process first. They take time to grow. Similarly, our entire lives are a process of experience and growth. We haven’t arrived yet.

Our Journey

This is a hard lesson for me because I want things to happen on my time. I desire something and want it to happen immediately. I work hard and expect that the results will simply follow right away. The Good News is that God has something much better in mind. There are seasons to life and I have discovered that the times of growth are often long (and never truly stop), but they can also be the best. We grow closer to God, others, and even ourselves. We experience new things and are shaped in new ways. It doesn’t mean we are failing or aren’t having an impact if we feel like we are in a time of waiting. It just means we are ripening.

Friends, wherever you are today, whatever stage you are on in your journey, be there. Don’t try to be somewhere else or someone else because you will miss the goodness of where you are right now. You may simply be like the grape that isn’t ripe yet. It’s not a bad place to be. It’s doesn’t mean you are too slow. It simply means you are on the journey. Blessings as you grow in God into the beautiful creation God created you to be.