Do you believe Jesus is closer to you when He is pruning you?
Doesn't feel like it sometimes.
Sometimes, it does feel like it. Those times are gifts.
Isaiah 28:28-29 says: Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. Though he drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it, his horses do not grind it. All this also comes from the Lord Almighty...
Isaiah 42:1-4 reads: Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; ......A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
Have you ever pruned a plant and hoped and prayed you didn't kill it?
Sometimes my spiritual life feels like it's about to be snuffed out. Yet, the pruning, the breaking, the threshing and what often feels like bruising the Lord administers or allows has never yet broken me. No, he wants me useful. He wants me to bloom. Jesus is always closest to the vine when pruning it.
Does that make sense to you?
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Pruning
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3 comments:
I just want to be the big, bushy, flowery plant!
What he cuts off sometimes makes me feel lighter. Later on, of course, not while you are actually going through it.
Does that make sense? hope so.
Times of failure and disappointment can sometimes be a distraction in our spiritual journey, but I believe that those times are also God-given opportunities to work on virtues like patience, kindness, understanding, and humility, to name a few. I feel God "pruning" me during times of trial and everyday challenges to become a better person. I turn to Him for guidance in my thoughts, my words, and my actions.
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