Care in the Pruning

www.bible.com/1713/jhn.15.2.csb

Pruning feels a lot like discipline. Pruning feels like punishment. Pruning is not pleasant. And yet, the Lord sees fit to prune our lives from time to time. Things, people, professional possessions, from time to time God sees fit to prune away from us because they are not beneficial to us. Of course, we can’t understand this at the time it occurs. To us it feels like God is punishing us. It feels like He doesn’t love us. Yet God does it anyway, and demands that we simply trust Him. He is the Master Gardener. He sees our whole life at once. He knows what will help us grow. Like a good Gardener, He prunes back the branches from time to time to help us bear more fruit. He isn’t interested is us bearing more branches, because they can cause us to fall over in the storm when we are overbalanced. He knows exactly how big we need to be, what shape we need to be, because we don’t.

“Why did God allow this to happen?” People ask. How could a loving God let such things happen? Pruning is a painful act. But it is. Loving act. Discipline is a painful act. But it is a loving one. And sometimes they are the same. Bad things happen. Do not be surprised that the world hates you. You belong to the Lord. The world hated the Lord. They will hate you too. Sometimes God uses that hatred for your pruning.

When you are overcome, overwhelmed, and in need of hope, remember that this world is not our home. We are not judged on our possessions. We are not judged by our bank account. We are not judged by which church we attend. We are judged according to our faith in Christ and the works we have done in His name. We are judged by our fruits. And God wants to give us every chance to grow them.

God, help me understand why you are so hard on me. I have heard that I will not be given more than I can handle, but it seems You have an awful lot of confidence in me right now. Father I am not strong enough. On my own I cannot do this. I need you to empower me, to draw me to you. I need you. Please Lord. Amen.