The Word tells us that God wants our joy to be full, and that means we need olives and grapes in our life. Olive oil was used to make one’s face shine (Ps 104:15), and it became a sign of joy and gladness (Num 6:25-25); wine was also a symbol of joy. But despite the Word, there are far too many of the bride of Christ who are saved but their joy is not full.
Think about olives and grapes in the natural sense. They are both fruit; one produces oil and the other wine. But they are not oil and wine themselves and if they are left on the tree or the vine they shrink and shrivel up, their richness having evaporated. They are better than nothing, but they are not substitutes for oil and wine.
Are we satisfied with just olives and grapes in our lives? Are we happy with just the fruit and no joy or gladness? Too many are living that way and it is not the way God intends for us to live. If we want to shine with joy and fill our world with gladness we need to be “crushed.”
As His bride we are rooted and grounded in Jesus and we can bring forth His fruit. But making oil and wine is another matter. We must become completely dissatisfied with just producing the fruit in our life. Producing the fruit by itself will never bring joy and gladness. To truly experience the fullness of joy, the olives and grapes need to be crushed in the process.
First the Lord plants the seeds within us, then He works in our life to grow the fruit. But the final part of the process is the “pressing,” which brings out the oil and the wine in us so that our lives are shining examples of His life in us. It is all part of the process that He will be faithful to finish.
Phil 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: KJV
It is not natural for us to undergo pressing (suffering) and patiently endure it, and there are many Christians who spend all their time crying out during adversity just like those in the world around them. As His bride, we are to face our trials with the calmness His Spirit provides us, knowing that God means our suffering for good, and out of it will come rejoicing afresh in Him.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Yes, Jesus has promised to complete the work He has begun in us, but we need to be faithful and cooperate with the process. We cannot afford to settle for olives in the tree and grapes on the vine. They are only symbols of what “can be.” They are the fruit we need to allow God to mature in us, and as part of that process we will become spiritually mature in Him.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
But that requires Him taking us into “presses” of life to bring out the very best of what He has placed within us; the life of Christ. It is all a part of “resting” in Him,” standing in faith that He has our best interest always before Him; even if we can’t see it at the time. That is why Paul tells us to:
Rom 5:3 … but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience
The Greek word “tribulation” is thlipsis, which means pressing together. Remember that when those times of pressing come, because they are always followed with overflowing gladness and joy. Joy the Lord wants shared with those around us.