Category: Pruning Time

Blooming!!  My Rose-of-Sharon bush that I pruned last fall, is now blooming!!  When I pruned it, I knew I was doing the right thing for it, but it was still difficult to do.  I pruned it way back—so I was not sure if it would come back well.  And now it is blooming.  

I pruned my lilac bushes as well, and they are also flourishing—they are full leaved, and abundant, whereas before their pruning their branches were straggly, and not very full.  Now they are exactly how I hoped they could be.

Just as I pruned my bushes for their health, and benefit, God prunes—or disciplines us—for our health and our benefit.  In Hebrews 12, it says that we discipline our children, doing the best we know how to do for them in our limited wisdom and understanding.  Our Heavenly Father disciplines us—with all knowledge, all wisdom, all gentleness and all power.  He does this for our best, to make us complete—or Holy—as He is Holy.

This past year of Covid—I have experienced God’s pruning in my life.  I did not enjoy the quarantines—(I know some people who did—they liked the slower pace of life)—I did not appreciate the shortages of supplies—I did not love wearing the masks—I did not like not having social times with family and friends—I reacted to all these situations with annoyance and anger.  

Then God started working in my life, and my attitude.  He started taking my focus off me, and onto Him, and others.  I started thanking Him—that He was still the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.  He had not left His throne.  (It sure felt like He had—but the truth was—He had not)—He is in charge over life and death.  He still knew the plans He had for us, to give us a future and a hope.  He still knew us before the foundation of the world and knew the number of days we would each have on this earth.  He is still sovereign over the affairs of men.

This week, I went to our community’s school board meeting.  I have homeschooled my children, but my grandchildren attend public schools, so I wanted to see this meeting.   They were talking about a variety of issues that people have conflicting opinions about, (i.e.  masks, critical race theory, LBGTQ, etc, etc.)

There was a great deal of passion and some anger in that room.  After the meeting, I went to talk to the Superintendent of the school board, and I told her how much I appreciated her calmness in the room.  Beside her was my neighbor, who is an administrator of the schools.  I told them that I would be praying for them in this coming year and thanked them for doing their jobs in the midst of a very difficult season of life.

 My daughter-in-law is a teacher, and this past year, I have taken her lunch and her baby to nurse during her lunch break, and so I have seen and heard first-hand the struggles and trials of the teachers as they seek to teach our children, during the age of Covid.

What is the point of all of this—we have all been tested this year.  We have been pruned.  We have been put in situations where we have gotten angry with each other.  We are annoyed with each other.  We have differences of opinion with each other.  We feel powerless, and out of control.

I am here to say—that is ok.  We never did have power.  We never did have control.  The Bible tells us to be angry, but do not sin.  What does that mean?  Some things should make us angry—to see evil oppressing and winning the day—that should make us angry.  But our battle is not against flesh and blood.  What does that mean?  It means we are fighting a spiritual battle—against Satan and all under his dominion, and God has already won the war.  He won it on the cross, two thousand years ago.   He bought us back from the Kingdom of darkness, and into His Kingdom of light and Holiness. 

We experience the reality of that victory through our faith and trust in God and His Word.  We experience the reality of that victory as we spend time with God and His Word, as we pray in faith, and appropriate His power in faith, in the spiritual realms.

We need to rest in the victory that God has already brought us through the cross, and rest in Him—as soon—every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord!! 

 We can love each other with the love of the Lord!!

 We can be kind to those we disagree with—for it is the kindness of the Lord, that leads to repentance.  It is the kindness of the Lord that leads to repentance.  Romans  2:4

And it is the pruning of the Lord—the discipline of the Lord—that leads to our Holiness—that we may experience the reality of the freedom that Jesus sacrificed to give us and bear the image of our Father—to the world. 

So that we can bloom!!

So let’s be encouraged!!

 Heb 12:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

 Heb 12:2

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

(Pro 3:11, 12 )

 Heb 12:3

Think of all the hostility He endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

 Heb 12:4

After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

 Heb 12:5

And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as His children? He said,
“My child, don’t make light of the LORD’s discipline,
and don’t give up when He corrects you.

 Heb 12:6

For the LORD disciplines those He loves,
and He punishes each one he accepts as His child.”

 Heb 12:7

As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as His own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?

 Heb 12:8

If God doesn’t discipline you as He does all of His children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really His children at all.

 Heb 12:9

Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?

 Heb 12:10

For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in His holiness.

 Heb 12:11

No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.