A Painful Pruning

As I was reading in John this morning I came across a verse I had read about a thousand times before, but God always seems to have a way of making things jump right off the page in a new way no matter how many times I have read it. This is why reading the word of God never gets old! This is why his mercies are new every morning! This is why we can spend a lifetime devoted to studying God’s word and learn something new each time we open its pages! I absolutely love God’s word for this reason. As I have shared before our family has recently been through some major life changes. (A major move, a change of jobs, and now traveling around the country.) So, when I read John 15:1-2, I finally began to understand the reason behind all of the painful pruning I have been experiencing lately.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15:1-2

I always looked at this section of scripture as if it was only talking about cutting out sin. Never did I look at this passage as the possibility of not having sin and still needing a pruning just so you can be more fruitful. We all have things in our lives that could use some tweaking from the Holy Spirit from time to time. It may be an attitude that needs to be adjusted, thoughts that need throwing out, or words that could have been spoken a different way. Whatever the case may be, we all have pruning that must take place in order to make us more like Christ and more fruitful.

In doing some research about the process of pruning fruit trees, I learned that pruning should take place in the late fall and winter months. This exposes the branches and the farmer can see exactly what the branches will be producing in the spring and summer. The tree’s dormant period is a map of what is to come. By strategic pruning, the farmer can actually encourage growth that otherwise would not have come by letting nature take its course. So, let’s take a look at this from the Lord’s perspective. There are going to be seasons in our lives that are winter seasons, our dormant seasons. And much like the tree loses its leaves and is exposed, the Lord wants us to “expose,” or lay open our hearts to Him. When we are willingly do this, He will be able to go in and remove anything that is not fruitful in our lives, as well as prune things back so that we can become a vigorously fruitful person when the winter/pruning season is over.

Another interesting thing I learned was that when a farmer plants a new tree, he will prune that tree back hard for three years straight and not allow it to produce fruit. The reason for this is so that it can put all its energies into putting down a strong root system, getting established and becoming strong. Wow! Isn’t this much like what our Heavenly Father does with us? Think about the importance of our quiet time with the Lord each and every day. Think about the early days of coming to Christ. In those early days, our focus was not on helping others to grow, nor was it on producing fruit. It was on getting our spiritual legs up under us so that we could stand on our own two feet. This is one reason why Paul tells Timothy that leaders within the church “must not be a recent convert” in 1 Timothy 3:6. There is a reason for a season of growth in the kingdom before we are asked to bear much fruit.

The more vigorously a tree is pruned, the more this will encourage exponential new growth. So, when we feel like the Lord is really doing a number on our heart with the pruning shears we need to realize it is only for our betterment in the kingdom. If we want to produce much fruit a painful and heavy pruning is sometimes necessary to get those kinds of results. So, sometimes we just need to open up our hearts close our eyes and say “here I am Lord, do what you must do so that I can be exponentially fruitful.” What is hard is being able to recognize that the pruning is taking place and that it is God’s hand bringing about a pruning in our lives in those moments of pain.   

Lord, we lay our hearts open before you. Help us to remember that your pruning shears are not meant to bring us pain for pain's sake, but for your kingdom’s sake. Help us to remember that in those moments of painful pruning that you have great things in store for us when the winter season is over! Give us eyes to recognize that it’s your hand doing the pruning in our lives so that we know not to fight against it, but to embrace it. Lord, we thank you that you have such wonderful plans and purposes for our lives. Help us to focus on your face and not the pruning process. We ask all these things in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.