"OIL AND WINE"

Romans 5:3 tells us to "REJOICE IN OUR AFFLICTIONS"! How can I possibly do this? How can I rejoice or celebrate that I am going through afflictions???

As I have been thinking about this I found that the Greek word used here for "afflictions" is the word used for "pressure" - like that of a press squeezing the fluid from olives or grapes!
I began to think about what takes place with making oil and wine...
... Pressing changes the olive or grape FOREVER! They no longer look like the did before! They no longer ARE the same! Without the pressing there would be no oil or wine!

Both oil and wine are medicinal.
Oil is helpful in daily life...like making bread!
Wine is a refreshing drink!

Am I like oil and wine?
Am I submissive to the squeezing in my life, the pressure, the pressing???

Do I bring healing and encouragement to the hurting? (or do I sting like vinegar?)
Do I bring refreshment to others?
Am I faithful in the daily tasks of life? (like making bread)
Bread can be so ordinary...in fact boring on one hand, and yet it can sustain life and be irresistible! (who can resist the smell of freshly baked bread, and can't wait to butter and eat it?!)

Do I give myself up fully to be pressed and squeezed by the afflictions that God brings into my life? If I do, the result will be like oil and wine!!

LORD, PRESS ON!