A Spiritual Truth via the Travel Channel
While watching a tour of the Provence area of France on the Travel Channel, I was reminded of a spiritual truth we don’t typically like to talk about. The travelers stopped in Avignon at Chateauneuf du Pape, home of one of the most highly revered wines in the world. 
What struck me was the terrain in which the grape vines were growing. Virtually no soil to be seen; just rocky, dry, infertile ground. The wine grower stated that the great difficulty to survive caused the grapes to produce a better tasting wine.
This sounds much like the pruning process Jesus speaks of in John 15. Though we don’t like the thought of it, the more difficulties we endure and pass through, the greater our spiritual fruit. There’s bound to be some comfort and encouragement in that truth somewhere.
from my notebook 