The Secret to Abiding During the Pruning and Cutting

Life really could be full of the best things if we could learn to let go and trust our Maker. Are we not the vine and He’s the gardener?

When all 7 of us prepare the ground for a garden, my heart races with anticipation for the coming harvest. I wrote more about it Here.

I stepped out there several weeks later after being on vacation, and the lettuce was ready. Being away for a week without anyone tending to the land can cause you to come back to a hot mess of growth. Since this was my first go around with a garden, I did the logical thing and hopped on YouTube to learn how to harvest lettuce.

The experts say if you cut the plant at the ground or cut too deeply, you will kill it. Instead, when harvesting lettuce, don’t cut the entire plant out of the ground. Leave a few inches of leaf/crown on the plant, and it will produce new leaves within a couple of weeks.

The Word says, “For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms and the flower becomes a ripening grape, Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives and remove and cut away the spreading branches” Isaiah 18:5.

Seems a little illogical. I trust the experts and cut each lettuce plant.

I close my eyes.

I remember a few years ago pulling into the driveway and seeing our trees cut back like this. It was pretty shocking. I thought the lawn man had made a mistake and cut too much off. Had he killed our trees? Tears welled up in my eyes because much like this tree I felt cut and wounded. Questioning if God had made a mistake and pruned too much. Life hadn’t worked out in ways I expected, and I wasn’t sure of the future.

What’s impressive is this: Full blossoms do not grow on this type of tree unless you cut them back. You have to prune the good and bad to receive the fullest amount of fruit. Just like the lettuce.

“You killed them,” says my nine-year-old son the next day when he sees the emptiness of what was once a vibrant plant.

“Trust the process.” This phrase is all too familiar.

Sometimes the pruning goes deep, and you wonder if you’ll recover. Fighting the process keeps us isolated and exhausted-we keep God at arm’s length, blaming Him, instead of cleaving to Him.

The secret to surviving the cutting is abiding. And the secret to abiding is prayer. Isn’t that why God urges us to pray without ceasing?

“True whole prayer is nothing but love” St. Augustine.

Prayer isn’t for us to change the mind of Christ; it’s about knowing the heartbeat of God.

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

The simple act of conversation with God keeps us connected to our life source…the vine. And so, instead of flaring around during the pruning season our roots can grow deep in the soil of His love through prayer. Be honest with Him about your feelings and tell Him how you ache. Pray through Psalms, allow it to be something you cling to with both hands. Scribble in your journal not holding back the emotions. Don’t stop communicating with Him. Prayer isn’t always pretty, necessarily-it doesn’t have to be.

“I know of no better thermometer to your spiritual temperature than this: the measure of the intensity of your prayer.” Spurgeon

Our most authentic self is not found in what we do or defined by past mistakes, it’s found in who we belong to. It’s about discovering His heart.

We can’t afford to let past hurts to define us. And we sure as can’t allow the cutting and pruning to paralyze us from moving forward. You can either be broken by fear and shame or entirely made whole by His love. That’s all there is.

This is what I’m finding: there’s no formula, no three-step process, no check-list to unmasking your truest self. It’s a journey with Christ.

Maybe you’re in this season of pruning, and you feel bare and exposed.

The beautiful words of Elizabeth Elliot ring loud today, “Don’t dig up in doubt what you planted in faith.”

The cutting is hard and more questions than answers may arise, take courage, stay connected and trust. He loves you in the process. Remember, you were made to bear fruit.

And guess what?! The lettuce is beginning to grow again and so will we because He is faithful!