Calling - Finding Fulfillment In Your WorkSample

Dead plants don’t grow, and gardeners don’t bother pruning them. But living plants can be helped toward greater fruitfulness through a prudent application of the shears. Still, any sort of cutting can hurt.

Our Father graciously removes the moss- and fungus-infected branches from our lives. He weeds out the things that don’t support good fruit. Therefore, we have no reason to be afraid of the Spirit’s shears. He cuts only what kills us. You and I can willingly participate in the pruning.

If you remain humble and in a posture of gratitude, you can begin to let the good Gardener do his work in your life.

God’s pruning in your life means only one thing: he sees your fruitfulness and wants to increase it.  Thanking God for a difficult circumstance won’t come naturally at first, but it’s the path to accelerated growth. Cultivate an attitude of teachability. Stay in a posture of humility.

Ask, “Lord, what can I learn from this difficult person or situation? What are you preparing me for with their presence?”

Don’t miss that last bit. All pruning is preparation. All character cutting is for growth.  Pruning is to prepare you for more capacity, both in the kingdom and within your spirit. It could look like a special work project you didn’t ask for, an assignment you don’t feel is your responsibility or a job you feel unqualified for. But guess what? You don’t grow when you are comfortable.  As you willingly engage in the work of pruning, the Spirit will work through you, and this will cause your attitudes to change.  Your anger toward authority disappears. Your frustration with colleagues or clients is converted into appreciation.

Ask the Lord how he tends the garden you work within—the company you serve, the job you keep, the business you own. This is where the real fun begins. This is where you discover the joy of working with the Lord.

Father, show me where you are pruning dead things in my life. Thank you for clipping back the things in my heart that don’t give glory to you and that prevent me from experiencing the new things you want to move me into. I trust you.