Have you ever been through the “pruning” process with God? The process of Him exposing something in your life that you need to repent of or maybe He is asking you to give up something that isn’t sinful but yet it is not His best for you? This could be a habit that is getting too far out of control. It could possibly be a hobby that is not drawing you towards what God has called you to. It could be something in our hearts…maybe God is asking you to let go of hurt and forgive someone who deeply offended you. Maybe God wants to break down some negative belief systems you have developed as a result of trauma. No matter what it is, the pruning of God involves the subject of change and change is never easy. God is asking us to change in some way for us to be more obedient, to be in a closer relationship with Him, to be more effective as Christians and ultimately be more like Christ. But it is much easier said than done.
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m always in ‘the pruning process’. It’s like I conquer one area of my life (or so I think), feel victorious and transformed, and all the good stuff….then give me a few days and the Lord reveals another thing I got tucked away that I was unaware of. And the pruning process starts all over again. It’s not fun. It is very hard and often painful. Honestly, there are moments I don’t feel like ‘growing’ anymore because change is hard, period. There is no way around pain when it comes to allowing God to purify and heal the deepest parts of us. But I have to look back and remember where He brought me from and remind myself that every single time I surrender, and let Him prune, it’s been totally worth it.
The war between the flesh and the Spirit becomes so much more evident in the pruning process I believe. But…as a war rages, and we have moments of crying out and wanting to retreat, we have to remind ourselves that “this too shall pass” and what is waiting on the other side of this process, will far exceed any pain I have to experience in the process.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what we see is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.”
I believe God prunes us in many ways on this journey of life. But regardless of the ways, we can trust that when God’s Spirit moves and works in our hearts and lives, He is, making us more like Jesus in the process, and glorifying Himself through us. I believe He has something so much greater in store for us, and we so often sell ourselves so short because we fear the discomfort of the process.
The pain of the process is real. Changing our mindsets or behaviors, navigating emotional pain or tearing down negative belief systems we have built up over the years is hard. But I pray we fix our eyes not on what we see going on, not on what we feel during the process but on what is unseen. God in His wisdom and love is freeing us in the pruning. We have a loving, faithful, and gracious God whose thoughts are not our thoughts, and ways are not our ways and who has plans for us and our lives than we could ever imagine!
John 15:2 tells us; “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
Do you want to bear more fruit? Do you want to live out the life God planned for you? Do you want to experience the abundant life Jesus offers? Then we need to embrace the pruning. We need to get with God and allow Him to examine our hearts and be willing to let His Spirit heal those areas we would rather hide. Because in the entire span of our lives, this healing journey and pruning process is really but a moment…but taking this moment to allow God to do a deep and beautiful work in us will achieve for us an eternal glory that will far outweigh any pain we experience in the process!