Growing up I remember having the prettiest yard on the
street. My Daddy loved working in the
yard, as a matter of fact, he still does! Right outside my parents’ bedroom
window was a beautiful little rose garden. He had planted roses of all
different colors, sizes and aromas. The roses were very beautiful because my
Daddy made sure they were well cared for.
Sometimes Daddy would prune the roses. It never made sense to me to cut off the
flowers in order to grow more flowers, but that is exactly what happened. Once he cut off the dying flowers and stems,
it didn’t seem to take very long before the old was replaced with new, fresh,
vibrant, sweet smelling roses.
Yesterday one of my devotionals spoke to this very
topic. The Scripture passage I read was John 15:5:
"Remain in me, and I will remain in
you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you
cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the
branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For
apart from me you can do nothing."
The passage is pretty clear, when I’m connected to the
Father – meaning I’m praying, reading my Bible and worshipping, I have a
healthy relationship with God and I will produce fruit. But, when I’m withering
away and not growing (my prayer life is stale, I don’t open my Bible and
worship isn’t a priority) I become lifeless and I don’t produce fruit. As I
thought about this verse a twinge of curiosity came over me and I googled
“Pruning”. I found an interesting
article… The Reason for Pruning. The
author made several good points.
The Reasons for Pruning…
1) Pruning
encourages new healthy growth.
2) If you cut out
dying and diseased wood, the plant can instead of fighting disease will put its
energy in to new productive growth.
3) Pruning needs to
be done in a dormant season.
The author was writing about pruning plants, but as I read
it I found many similarities to the life of Christians and the body of Christ
(the church). God says in His word that
when we aren’t connected to Him we don’t produce fruit. If we’re not producing fruit that means our
witness is ineffective and dead, it means we aren't growing. This makes us
spiritually unhealthy. When we are spiritually unhealthy it can and usually
affects our physical and emotional health as well.
I believe these are the times God uses storms, trials and
difficult circumstances to “prune” us. Just like a gardener prunes his plants
anticipating new growth, our Father prunes us. When God prunes His children He
cuts away the things in our lives that keep us from being close to Him; those
things in our lives that don’t honor and glorify Him. These times are hard and they hurt. Sometimes
what God wants to cut off or prune is something we want to hold on to, which makes
the process that much more painful. But, pruning is necessary if growth is
going to happen.
I’ve had dormant seasons in my life. I’ve seen dormant
seasons in the life of my church family and in both I’ve seen God cut off and
prune. I’ve felt God’s pruning and it is
an uncomfortable place to be. I have to
realize though that pruning isn’t punishment, it’s a growing tool. Every time HE prunes - something new,
beautiful, fresh and healthy comes from it, in our personal life as well as in
the church.
I read that when some plants are pruned they weep. Pruning is a painful process for the plant,
the person and the church. Just as my
daddy took the time to care for his rose garden, pruning when necessary, my heavenly
Daddy takes the time to prune me and His church. It’s our job to stop fighting it, learn from
it and grow in order to become fruitful once again.
