Meet The New YouUzorak

More Fruitful

Pruning, my friend, is such a very unique process. It’s a trimming back to a point of making new growth possible. It’s not a ripping out, tearing up, or totally replacing something that is already growing.

It’s definitely not like what I did to that innocent Rose of Sharon growing up too close to the back door. Honestly, I meant to keep that promise I made to my husband. I never intended to tear it down with my bare hands. I just got carried away, with a little pruning here and there at first. But I couldn’t stand the way it looked when I was done, so in a wave of adrenalin (and some pent up frustration after moving for the fourth time in eight years), I did the unthinkable. I grabbed a hold of trunk and rocked it back and forth until the root ball loosened enough to pull the whole thing out. So much for pruning!

Is this how we feel about the way God goes about pruning, too? Do we feel like we’re being hacked to death and ripped up from our roots? Do we feel like God’s trying to do a number on us?

Oh, my friend, this is not how God operates. His pruning is all about growth rather than death. The Lord is concerned with trimming back our lives in order to produce more fruit, so what if you perceived God’s pruning shears to represent promise of the good that is yet to come?

Think about how that “no” is really about enjoying the present.

That rerouting is an opportunity for a scenic route on the way to your destination.

That delay is really an unexpected gift of time.

God may be removing something from your life, but only because He has something more precious for you in mind.

Trap and Transform

1. What comes to mind when you think of the word “prune”?

2. How has God’s pruning brought new growth into your life?

3. What do you sense the Lord wants to prune from your life presently?