Pruning

We live in the country, and have allowed some of the things that grow on our property to go without the proper attention for quite a while. Our trees and bushes are now out of control… there are dead limbs; new growth growing outside the original large bushes because there isn’t room to grow by the main trunk anymore; low hanging branches that smack you when you mow the grass etc….. all because we have neglected to take care of this for several seasons. We rush through our days and months of nice weather each year and say “we will do it soon when we get some spare time”. Soon never comes.

A particular area is at the back of our property and we plopped a little shed right in front of some BEAUTIFUL lilac bushes (only to get it out of the way of something else!!) Since we did that, we have missed the beautiful fragrant purple blooms for 2 seasons because of that building blocking the view.
So, today is the day i decided to tackle this project. I got my tools and gloves and assessed what needed to be done, and away I went.
Suddenly I was pruning! I was shaping this bush into something today, that would change the shape of its life in the future. I found myself lost in it!! I was focused on what I was doing to this bush, and nothing else. I wanted to make it beautiful again. A little while into it I realized that I was carefully taking each spindly limb and snipping the dead off of it, even if they were teeny little shoots. I physically got down into the area of this bush where all of the limbs connected at the ground level, and started digging the old leaves and twigs out of its center. They were stifling the air flow of my bush! As I snipped each twig and branch I found myself “caring” for this bush. I was invested! I stopped dead in my tracks and said “THIS is what its like when Jesus prunes us!” He doesn’t just get the big old chain saw out and whack away without love for His child! He takes the little hand held snippers and carefully moves our limbs around, being sure not to damage something new and good in the meantime. He gets practically up in the middle of His prunee, and strokes our hair and loves us, because He knows this is going to be hard, just as I found myself doing with this bush.
It was such a tender moment for me, when I realized how I was carefully pruning this crazy out of control bush, because Jesus is so tender with us, and so gracious to just wait on us until the right time when He says…. “Ok today is the day I begin to prune. This girl’s blossoms are being covered up by the big building of shame, anger, and past hurts. I need to cut away anything that has no purpose and make room for the new growth to blossom in her. It is time for Me to step in, and make her beautiful again. No one can do it like I can. She is my child, and she needs my attention and my love, and next spring…..watch out, because she is going to shine for my purpose!!!”
I cried like a baby back there in the corner of our property, and praised God for His beautiful and unexpected lesson of love this morning!!!