Just a Trim!
Forget
the former things; do not dwell on the past.
19See,
I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I
am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:18-19)
Here in West Texas, February can mean any season. This past
week we have had snow, 70 degree weather, and lots of rain. My poor plants are
so confused. I decided it was time to prune them. They had green leaves but
weren’t looking healthy. I trimmed them back and they looked so sad and
pitiful. I told God that I was going to have to just prune them in faith. Sure
enough after a couple of days they were full of green shoots. I was so excited!
I was visiting with a gardener and he said that pruning them gets rid of dead
growth and lets the plants get more nutrients. God’s creation is amazing.
While I enjoy the pruning process with plants, I hate it in
my life. In the past I thought it was punishment. If I lost something or
someone that was important to me I would immediately start thinking what I
needed to repent from. I understand now that sometimes the things and people I
lost were not healthy for me. I have
come to terms with that. Recently, though, I have come to realize that there
are other things that God is trimming from my life. For example, recently I
have been actively letting go of hurts because I realized that forgiving
someone does not necessarily get rid of the pain. I am also letting go of needing
to have all the answers. As a result, I have gotten rid of some spiritual dead
growth and am seeing growth in areas of my life.
The
prophet Isaiah tells us God’s feelings about holding on to dead growth. In Isaiah
43:18-19 we
read “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the
past.
19See,
I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I
am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” When we are being
pruned it can feel scary and we may want to turn back to what is familiar and
comfortable. God wants us to lean into the new thing he is doing.
In
Psalms 1, we read that the man who walks in uprightness will be like a tree
planted by the water. John 15 describes Jesus as the vine and us as the
branches. 5
“I am the vine, you are the
branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather
them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you[b] will
ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Jesus describes how growth is achieved b y
abiding in Him as our source of spiritual nutrients.
Ephesians 4 gives us examples of what we should
prune from our lives and what we should seek instead.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, [i]clamor,
and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Take heart if you are being pruned. God will not
trim you away to nothing. Watch for new growth in our life if you are brave
enough to let go of the things God is calling you to.
