John 15 paints the picture of a vinedresser
painstakingly devoted to our progress:
Bear fruit (verse 2).
Bear more fruit (verse 2).
Bear much fruit (verse 8).
No one loses. As Christ puts it, here are the
benefits of pruning:
My Father is glorified (verse 8).
You prove to be my disciples (verse 8).
My joy may be in you, and your joy may be full
(verse 11).
It may take a while for joy to come in the midst
of pruning, but it is inevitable.
For some of us, the pruning begins early in life;
others may remain relatively intact until the
later decades of life. By no means is all loss
pruning, but pruning can certainly look like
loss. It can also look like relational fracture or
like failure, weakness, or sickness, because
it involves paring back in some capacity. God
can use it all. If we allow the shears to do their
work, the purpose is always the same: growth.
God doesn’t prune everyone by the same hard,
fast rule, but every fruitful branch, without
exception, will experience cutbacks.
Here’s how the pattern frequently goes. The
young life awakened in Christ is fresh faced and
full of promise. The young man knows exactly
where he’s headed. The young woman knows
precisely what she’s called to be. They each
set out on their path and, just about the time
they really start to bloom, the clipping ensues.
Life gets hard. Affirmation decreases. Passion
wanes. Inspiration dries up. Material doesn’t
materialize. Clarity turns to cloudiness.
Phase 1 is normally annoyance with God. You
led me here, then left me here. You told me to go,
then didn’t come through. Don’t be surprised if
you experience an ironic sense of lostness just
when you thought you’d found what you were
looking for. This can be its own form of pruning.
It reminds us that what we really want is God.
Neither arrival nor achievement can keep us
satisfied. Only abiding can.
God never calls us to something only to
abandon us once we’ve arrived. He’s at work
whether or not we see a whit of evidence.
Phase 2 is self-doubt. God didn’t mislead me;
I misled myself. I made it up and called it God.
With this phase usually comes embarrassment,
since after all, you told people you’d been
called.
The truth is, you were indeed called, and your
calling is irrevocable. This setback is for the
sake of your calling, not in spite of it. Difficulty
is paramount to producing. Without it, you
won’t be able to faithfully steward your gifting.
Phase 3 is the valley of decision. This is a critical
season, because here you will either withdraw
to a less vulnerable proximity or cling closer
to Jesus despite the appearance of promises
aborted. Will you hang around for the training?
This becomes the million-dollar question.
At times God is too close for us to see. We lose
sight of how He’s working until months or years
later, when we’re able to step back and gain a
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