in the fury of the moment

oh, the joy of pruning

I was reading back through my blog the other day, and being reminded of how much has changed in the past year. I came across this post, and I was struck by how I was in such a similar but also incredibly different place in my life just 14 months ago.

And then I stumbled across this quote in a book I'm reading. Whew, a little too close to home. If plants could talk, I'm not sure what they would say about how it feels to be pruned ... but I can't imagine it's a very enjoyable thing to have parts of you cut off. Still, there's that knowledge and hope that a greater beauty lies ahead. There's a yielding, and a trusting that the one holding the shears knows what he's doing. Plants can't really get away from it -- we shouldn't want to.

In mature pruning, the pruning will intensify as God's shears cut closer to the core of who you are. God isn't trying to just take away; He's faithfully at work to make room to add strength, productivity, and spiritual power in your life. His goal is to bring you closer to the perfect and complete image of Christ.
... Have you ever realized that a 'test of faith' doesn't really test anything unless it pushes you past your last test?
... this kind of pruning goes beyond rearranging priorities to the heart of what defines us -- the people we love, the possessions we cling to, our deep sense of personal rights. These are the very arenas that God must rule ...
-- Bruce Wilkinson

posted by Krista @ 9:19 AM