Meditations from Zion

John 15:2
“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

Do I know the difference? I’m not sure I do. Conceptually I understand. Pruning is supposed to be that little snip here and there, deadheading, and shaping, while cutting is chopping off a dead branch or even more drastic, the whole top of something and starting over. One action is a hopeful trim while the other is not so hopeful, more resignation I’d say. Oh sure, there are times that a major cutting happens and the plant regroups and sprouts all over again, but how often does that happen?

My husband and I have always wanted a willow tree, but we’re too cheap to just go out and buy one. So, he keeps coming up with these little willow tree sprigs and shoots to try and generate some roots from them… either in a jug a water or sticking them directly in the ground (according to “his” daddy, this is possible). Anyway, to make a long story short, none of these methods have worked to date. That is, until the last one. He stuck it in the ground (we have a very wet area of our yard) and no surprise, the little thing up and died. So we didn’t bother to prune it, we just cut it down. Guess what? That little guy interpreted that action completely differently. For that little willow, it was pruning, and up from nothing, came a healthy willow branch, ready to face the world. Go figure.

What’s the lesson here? Anything is possible. Pruning and cutting can look the same sometimes but it’s what the plant does with it that matters.

When an idea or a planned future is cut off from out lives, how are we interpreting it? I have assumed that broken dreams were God’s way of saying, “no, not that!” But really, it’s possible that it was just a re-direction. It was really a pruning… maybe it felt like cutting because I had carried the plan along too far without checking in. Who knows?

I know I’m in Christ. I’m in the plant… the vine. And if that’s the case, it’s all pruning, every change out of my control and in God’s control has tremendous potential. I think it’s time to really embrace the shifts and snips.