The Dark Cave: Wisdom for Dark Nights of the SoulSample

The Pruning

For years, I tried growing basil. But I couldn’t keep a plant alive for more than a few weeks. The plant would grow, I’d pick off a few leaves here and there, thinking that the less I took the stronger the plant would be, but then it would die.

I started doing some research and found that if you want a massive harvest of basil, you have to constantly prune the tops of the stems as they grow. If you cut the tops to keep it from growing high, it will grow huge amounts of rich, thick leaves. It will also last a long, long time.

Growing strong and healthy plants requires constant pruning. Our spiritual growth is no different.

Jesus compares the spiritual growth process to the physical growth process when He says, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” Basically, you are getting pruned one way or another. If you aren’t doing anything of value, you’re getting pruned. If you’re producing fruit, be prepared to get pruned so you can produce even more. Being a rich source of life requires pruning back anything that isn’t supporting the fruit you’re capable of producing.

The Dark Night of the Soul can feel like being pruned. The spiritual support systems you depended on—feeling God’s presence, confidence, and certainty in what you believe—are all stripped away, and you enter the cave empty-handed and alone.

When the pruning begins, it’s easy to focus on what God is using to prune you—His silence, feeling abandoned and alone, the person who is making your life miserable, the rejection, the pain—but we have to keep our perspective lifted. Keep your eyes off the pruning shears and focus on the One doing the pruning.

Trust that whatever He’s cutting away in your life is something keeping you from being all you have the potential to be. If God cuts something or someone out of your life, you can be certain it was something that was holding you back.

God’s pruning in the Dark Cave is a gift, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.

His pruning can help us conquer our need for affirmation from others, our dependence on turn-by-turn instructions from on high, and getting our sense of worth from what we own, know, or do. The Master knows what will keep you from producing your greatest work. If you can keep your perspective on the big, circular picture, you can have faith that whatever God is stripping away in the cave is a gift to help you let go of anything that is limiting you from becoming all He knows you can be.

And the truth is, more often than not, what is limiting us is nothing outside of us. What’s limiting us are the mindsets, attitudes, fears, and hurts inside us. This is where the journey goes internal. What’s outside of you becomes less important than what’s happening inside of you. In the Dark Cave, we tend to realize that the true struggle is within us -- it's a deep work.

When we open ourselves to God’s work deep inside us we can be confident that he will transform us more and more into His image.

Today, I want to ask you: What is God pruning or cutting out of your life right now? Express your feelings to God about that pruning.