Last weekend I did some pruning on the trees in my yard. I have to admit that I am not very good at this task because I don’t like to do it. I often feel like I am hurting the trees when I cut them back. I’ve watched several neighbors trim their trees and I always feel like the trees look better when they finish. As I look at my freshly pruned trees, I can see that they look better.
When it comes to pruning, my wife has both the vision and the talent. My wife has many tropical plants which we keep in the garage over the winter. We have plant lights and even a little heater for the coldest days. No matter how hard I try, by the end of winter some of the plants look leggy and floppy. My wife will get some good sharp scissors and she will go to work on her plants.
She lovingly and carefully considers each cut and when she is done I carry the plants to their summer home outside. I often think the plants look sad because some have been so severely cut back. In some cases, I wonder if the plants will even survive such an aggressive pruning. A few weeks later, after some fertilizer and an abundance of warm sunshine, her plants have put on a flush of new growth and they look incredibly beautiful.
I’m not able to imagine what she knows must take place. If we don’t cut the plants back they will become weak and unproductive. Many will not survive next winter without the proper pruning this spring. While it hurts for me to watch things get pruned, I understand the long-term benefits.
While I have heard my wife say that a good pruning will encourage new growth; I still don’t like to see God coming at me with the pruning shears. Spiritual pruning hurts. I know that God is gentle and loving, but I still don’t want him trimming things out of my life. I know his pruning will encourage new growth and fruitfulness in my life; I just don’t like the pain of his shears.
I know God wants to prune out the sin in my life, but maybe I don’t want him to prune those things away. They are my vices and pleasures that provide a sense of comfort and familiarity. Sadly, it’s those very things that are keeping me from becoming all that God wants me to be. If I allow God to prune those time-wasting, life-sucking things out of my life, imagine what might grow back in its place?
God’s pruning shears are not only after bad, sinful things, but also things that might appear good on the surface. Often we can become busy doing “good things” and claiming they are for the Lord. If these good things are distracting us from God’s true purposes for our lives, then they are ultimately not good things. Sometimes our lives get bogged down in over-commitment to the detriment of more important things like prayer, personal quiet time, and especially family.
God’s purpose for pruning in our lives is to make us more productive and fruitful. Sometimes we get ourselves in a rut doing things over-and-over just because we have always done those things. That’s when God needs to prune out the old, unproductive
parts of our lives to revive us. God sees our untapped potential and wants us to devote our time and energy to fulfilling it.
Many things can keep us from reaching our dreams. I remember how my dream to write haunted me as I lived my busy life. I couldn’t image cutting anything out to make room for this dream. Then I discovered that turning the TV off one night a week gave me the opportunity to fulfill a life-long dream. Guess what I chose to do? I have never looked back on that decision.
I want to encourage you to let God work on your life with His pruning shears. I know it’s going to hurt, but what God does will ultimately be for your good. Your life will be better and more fulfilling. If you are harboring unfulfilled dreams, consider the possibility that God may need to do some pruning to help you get there. You may not look pretty when God gets done, but give it a little time and you will put on some fresh new growth that will make you better, stronger and more fruitful.nnn
Doug Creamer teaches Marketing at East Davidson High School. His Web site is located at www.dougcreamer.com He is the author of two books,”Encouraging Thoughts” and “The Bluebird Café.” Contact him at P.O. Box 777, Faith, NC 28041 or e-mail dougcreamerbooks@yahoo. com.