Jesus says in John 15:2, “[My Father, the gardener,] cuts off every branch in [me, the true vine,] that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
Did you catch that? There’s cutting off… and then there’s pruning.
Same procedure, but, oh, so different result.
Cutting off is for those dead twigs that needed to be removed anyway. It doesn’t hurt too bad (relatively). Stuff like sin and bad habits. It’s a I-knew-that-was-coming operation.
But when the gardener decides to cut off a healthy blossom? “God, what are you doing? Don’t you see how beautiful that is? Don’t cut it off, please, no… Stop, oh, please, stop!”
That, boys and girls, is pruning.
The good stuff. The beautiful, glorifying-to-God relationships and opportunities that the Father God snips off, so that the nutrients of the stem will be redirected to the huge, glorious blossom at the top.
If it doesn’t hurt, it ain’t pruning.
Think of a beneficial relationship suddenly ending…
A God-fearing co-worker dying in the midst of a thriving ministry…
Being so careful on a job, but then criticized falsely and let go…
You know you’re being pruned because you’ve been maintaining a repentant heart, a sincere devotion to God and have been accomplishing a wonderful, effective thing for God… and one day you stare in complete horror as God lifts the knife and cuts it away.
It’s deep and it’s fast. This good thing you’ve worked so hard for is suddenly and utterly gone. And you’re left with a gaping wound… and you have no idea why.
That’s the time to look for the blossom.
The flower might be small now, maybe insignificant. But watch. Over the next few days (or years), as the tears clear and some sanity is restored to you, look for that fruitfulness God had started in your life, but until now hasn’t had the attention it deserved.
Maybe it’s focusing on raising your children to know and fear the Lord.
Maybe it’s supporting your spouse fully to be the person God desires him or her to be.
Maybe it’s to spend more time volunteering at church.
Look for that blossom. And watch it steadily grow under God’s amazing care.
I can write this today because I, Cheryl Kramarczyk, have been pruned. Today is my one month anniversary.
The sting has settled to a throbbing. And I’ve been watching. Oh, boy, I’ve been looking for that blossom.
I wrote a month ago about having a soft heart. Gosh, it’s hard. It hurts so, so much. (I weep as I write this.) And it hurts still.
But I got it. Oh, I got it.
The sermon at South Roger’s Park Community Church this weekend was from Exodus 19-20, God gives the Law to Moses. And the point is God set them free first, and then gave the law. God delivers us from sin through faith in Christ, and then God gives us His instructions.
God sets us free, so we can live free.
God loves first, so we can love in response.
But I missed a step.
I skipped the receiving part and went straight to the sharing part.
And God had to prune me back until I got it.
God loves me, so that I can now receive His love.
This is a call for me to receive love for the first time. To receive love freely, without fear or worry. God wants to heal me! Not to just give me a happy marriage, or bless my kids, or get me published…
And not to have blessed relationships at church. Not to have a home church I feel welcomed at.
Rather God is pruning and working patiently and tenderly to care for the blossom of my freedom. Real freedom. Real confidence, life, joy, peace. And I want that more than anything! To feel free. To stop worrying about how others think of me, and to stop begging for attention from others, which only lasts a moment before my next fix. It’s exhausting. And I don’t have the strength to keep going like this.
And God was there this whole time, waiting, watching, working:
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us…” (1Jn 4:10)
“Cheryl, you are loved. I love you. Open your heart… and receive it. You have been set free from sin, in order to receive love. You are exactly where you are supposed to be! Now, now, you can receive My love. You couldn’t before because you were hurting too bad from wounds long-since scarred over and you couldn’t because you were afraid of getting hurt again.
“But now that you’ve been hurt and you’re open, you see, don’t you? My love is steadfast. My love is faithful.
“You’ve been drinking from a well that can never satisfy. Adam isn’t romantic. Your best friend left without leaving an address or invitation. And now you have a huge hole in your heart. Do you want to try to fill it again with love that won’t satisfy? Or are you ready? Are you finally ready to trust Me. To let Me love you. To be in a relationship with Me, and to receive my unconditional, never-ending love that you have been searching for this whole time.”
If it’s pruning, it hurts.
A lovely flower is now on the bed of dead twigs and leaves. But the Gardener loves you so much that He refuses to let a “lovely” flower detract from the beauty He is intending.
The Gardener has a vision, and He’s working toward it.
See that blossom? The only one in bud, with a few petals and lots of potential. There, at the top of the plant. Reaching for the sun, drinking in the nutrients from the stem. That’s the one that God intends to make fuller, more beautiful, more fruitful!
Just watch!
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Cheryl,
One month goes by quickly but every day you are re-blooming! I love you.
Mom