Pruning Doesn’t Come Easy

Hurricane Irene has moved north from Massachusetts.  Here in the center of the Commonwealth it was not too bad; a few hours of hard rain and some gusts that were very helpful for me.  I had a few dead branches beyond the reach of my pole-saw.  Irene got them down for me.  She was a good pruner.   It isn’t unusual to see the ground covered with leaves in New England but it is a bit different to have them all be green.  There are even a few well used nests strewn here and there.

Storms come in many forms.  Some of the ones most difficult to deal with are internal.  They also can do some serious pruning.  Often time things are taken away that we long to hang on to.  The best pruning takes place in the hands of a master gardener and not by the capricious events of life.  The last evening Jesus was with His disciples He paused in the moonlight to talk about pruning.  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  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.” John 15.

While I indeed long for a much fruit experience the pruning worries me.  I know I am in the hands of the one who loves me more than life itself.  I know He would only do what is the very best for me. But my humanity is still ever present and there is this human need to be in control.  The idea of total surrender and allowing God to take over isn’t completely natural.  Pruning doesn’t come easy.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 28, 2011

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org