Planting, Pruning and the Process of Growth

I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that does not produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more (John 15: 1–3, NLT).

I stood by as the cashier rang up the total, ready to swipe my card, gather up my newly purchased plants, and head home. I was super excited to finally get something planted in my window boxes on the front of my house! With a little instruction from a friend, which included numerous “pro tips” as we like to call them, it wasn’t long before my window boxes were bounding with beautiful blooms. As we stepped back to admire the new look of the front of my house, I snapped a few pictures to savor the beauty of the moment.

Admittedly, I’ve never been the most diligent caretaker of plants and flowers. Though attention to detail is required and an important part of my job, that’s never really carried over well to the task of tending to my green friends. This time around, I vowed I was going to do better. I promised myself I would be more consistent with watering and deadheading the plants on a regular basis to ensure they received the care they needed to thrive. Things were going so well until I walked out the front door one day last week to see that things had gone downhill quickly. Many of the buds had fallen off, and the color of many of the stems had turned from a healthy green to an ugly brown. Disappointed, I decided to give myself a few more days to turn things around. More water, additional plant food, and still, many of the stems were dying or already dead. After a recommendation from a friend, I walked onto the porch one morning a few days later and began removing as many of the dead stems as possible. I knew this process would take a while, but I realized it was worth the time to remove the ones that weren’t growing in order to try and preserve the ones that were still living. The process of pruning can be a tedious and difficult one, but it gives way to new growth. The metaphor for our Christian walk that the Lord placed on my heart that morning couldn’t have been more apparent. As I was removing the dead stems from my flower boxes, I was reminded just how quickly the death of some of the stems can begin to overtake and affect the ability of the healthy ones to grow. Oh, how true this is in our walk with Jesus as well.

We are all called to plant, to prune, and to grow. As is the case with my flowers, as followers of Jesus, we must be intentional with every single step of this process. We cannot prune if we do not plant. We cannot grow if we do not prune. And we cannot reach our full potential in regard to how God wants to use us for His glory in the kingdom if we are not growing. In the Bible, we are reminded in the first three verses of John 15: “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that does not produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.” Wow. I am so thankful for a Father that is kind and gentle, offering unconditional love, grace, and mercy, as He daily prunes our hearts so that we can further grow and produce more fruit. Though His good gifts of grace, mercy, and unconditional love are free, as Christ-followers, we are also called to action. In the case of my flowers, taking the steps of removing the dead stems was critically important for allowing the remaining healthy ones to have an opportunity to grow and, once again, produce beautiful blooms. Similarly, sometimes God asks us to remove things from our lives that are stunting our growth in Him. Maybe it means walking away from a job where we make a lot of money. Maybe it’s removing yourself from a particular friend group that isn’t living their lives for Christ the way your heart desires. Maybe it’s removing social media from your phone, so you aren’t continually being drawn into the vacuum of comparison that occurs there. It can be a difficult process and one that we often will shy away from addressing in our lives. I know I’m guilty of that myself.

Personally speaking, over the last couple of months, I have transitioned to working 32 hours per week at my job as opposed to the typical 40. I love being a physical therapist, but until recently, I never realized just how much I gave of myself to the job and just how quickly it can leave me feeling depleted if I’m not careful. By cutting back my hours, it was as if I was cutting back some of the dead stems that were encroaching upon my ability to grow in my walk with Christ. The extra time each week has given me a newfound understanding of what it looks like to have a healthier work-life balance. Making the decision required me to place my trust in the Lord to provide for my needs. Though it has only been this way for a couple of months, I have already received abundant blessings from this change as the Lord has provided space for me to pause and pursue other parts of His plan for my life. Yet, had I not taken the time to pray, listen, and be obedient when the Lord led me to decrease my hours at work, I believe I would not be experiencing the type of growth that has occurred in my life over the last couple of months.

I don’t know what it is for you, but I’m challenging each of you today to stop and give thought to what you’ve allowed to remain in the window box of your life that has begun to affect the way you live for Christ. Growth requires pruning. When we are pruned, the Lord can plant more seeds. As more planting occurs, we will continue to bear more fruit for His kingdom. This cycle of planting, pruning, and growth is the process of growth that I believe we are all called to participate in during our time on this side of heaven. I encourage you today to step back, pause, and pray. Open your eyes, ears, and heart to what the Lord may be speaking over your life. The process is not always easy. In fact, it’s usually quite the opposite. But friends, when you allow the Lord to cut off those branches that are no longer bearing fruit, you are opening your life to an abundance of blessings that can only come from growth in Him.