PRUNING

Here is a photo that shows a portion of our backyard. Those bushes outside the pool enclosure had grown so tall that they were impossible to control. They were encroaching on the pool enclosure, so we had to do something with them. Many of the trees in our yard were growing too close to the house and with the height of hurricane season approaching, we decided to hire someone to trim back all the trees near the house.

 This second photo shows our side yard and the trees that were hanging over our roof. Vegetation grows quickly in Florida, and we have had to trim our trees several times since we moved here eleven years ago.

Sometimes the results of the pruning is not pretty. You can see what happened to the shrubs near our pool in this picture. If you compare the first photo with this one, you will see that the lush shrubs in the first picture are now merely ugly trunks. Eventually new branches and leaves will grow from the ugly stumps, but they had to be cut back.

The pruning of our trees and shrubs reminded me of the scripture from John 15:1-2 (NIV). “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.”

At times we may find God pruning our lives to make them better and more fruitful. The beginning of the process may be unpleasant, but we know in the end that God works in our lives to bring about the best.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress of my newly pruned shrubs. How has God done some pruning in your life?