Lord have mercy, are the words that frequent my mouth throughout the day lately! I have learned it's not just a statement I have heard growing up in church, but rather it's an actual living statement that I need my Lord to listen to His child, sometimes screaming, to come and see about me in this pruning season. Not all days are horrible; indeed, not all circumstances are good. I'm being honest with you; sometimes, the pain and frustration are so intense that I fix my lips to say, Lord, I changed my mind on that, yes, You can go ahead and send somebody else, I am no longer interested. Of course, I am reminded of Jesus the day before the crucifixion in Luke 22:42 NLT "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will be done, not mine." Then I get my life together, temporarily (yes, I said temporarily, chile I am human and I am not there yet), stop the self-pity party, ask the Holy Spirit to provide me with strength for the current trial and help me minute by minute, hour by hour, and day by day. This comes with much practice, prayer, fasting, reading, and meditating on His word.
Just this morning, I asked God to help me not serve my attitude but rather His agenda. Man, that was hard. This scripture helped me: Matthew 23:11 NLT The greatest among you must be a servant. If Jesus came to serve and not be served, what makes me think I will not have to do His plan and glorify Him even pissed off. Like my mother always says, "good to be pissed off than pissed on!" (rolling my eyes behind her back and secretly saying WHATEVER!!!) Here is the moral of what I am getting to, pruning has taught me how to remain humble. Let's go to some scripture. John 16:33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world." Now, if Jesus was telling us this in His word, why are we up there on that black stallion? It's time to get low. I always pray: Heavenly Father, please teach me humility so You will not have to humble me later. Well, friends, He is definitely teaching me humility. I'm going to have to stop saying that prayer (just kidding)!
Let's get into some more scripture. James 4:6 NLT "And He gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." I Peter 5:6 So humble your selves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time, He will lift you in honor. One more, Matthew 23:12 NLT But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Alright, you see what I am saying now.
God takes pride seriously. He may take you through the pruning process for several reasons; perhaps you need to burn some negative behaviors off and grow strong, healthier ones. The specifics are between you and your heavenly father. I know I said one more scripture a scripture ago but here ya go, John 15:2 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.
Now, ask yourself, what branches of yours is he cutting off and which ones are being pruned. Go ahead and check out the rest of John 15 and more humbling scriptures. The bible is life y'all! So, do you understand now, OOOOHHH, the pruning season?
It's not easy, as a matter of fact, it's most difficult. Is it worth it for you?
Living in, on, and for purpose, are you?
