What is the Purpose of God’s Pruning?

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As a parent, we teach our children from the moment they are born.

We start small with concepts they need, in ways they can handle.

• share with others (selflessness)
• listen to mom and dad (obedience)
• you are loved (self-worth)
• if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all (the power of the tongue)
• walk, don’t run (safety)
• don’t hit your brother (love)

We try to build upon those foundational concepts as they age and can handle more.

• if your friends jumped off a bridge, would you too? (discernment)
• xyz is taken away for disobedience (consequences)
• dealing with broken friendships (forgiveness)
• dealing with disappointment (gratitude and contentment)
• dealing with anger and hormones (self-control)
• dealing with difficult people (gentleness and compassion)

And the list goes on and on. And then you reach the teenage years and really start to see the high edges that still need to be knocked off.

Pruning through Parenting

Those lessons about selflessness and obedience we taught at age 3 have become real life stumbling blocks that need to be polished. And hormonal emotions that are all new and, all of a sudden, very real, need to be taught how to be controlled.

To this point you’ve laid a foundation of Christ-honoring fruits of the Spirit in them. But there are sharp edges and steep cliffs that explode from that foundation as they mature.

As a parent, it’s our job to guide them through it to safety. And most of the time, that means we prune.

• Friend A has become a bad influence that we can tell, as loving parents, our children aren’t yet strong enough in their good influence to withstand being pulled down. So we limit interaction.
• Selfishness rears its ugly head, so we remove creature comforts to teach them what gratitude and selflessness means.
• Greed becomes uncontrolled, so we put them to work until they can appreciate the things they have.
• Hatred towards others is being subtly integrated into their lifestyle through video games and television, so we limit what they watch.

All the while, what is our goal? Do we do these things because it’s fun to make them mad at us?

No! It’s for our children to grow into adults that have a character of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Everything we teach is to mold our children’s thoughts and attitude to these fruits of the Spirit.

You see, as parents, we have the unique ability to see where our children need pruning for their own benefit to become more Christ-like.

They can’t see it. Because they aren’t yet mature.

And so, we prune.

Not because we want to harm, but because we love them more than they can imagine.

We know how much we love our children and only want their good. And we know that sometimes their good means we have to prune away things they cling to with all their might.

It makes sense to us, as a parent, to put our children through some “tough love” in order to polish those rough edges and prepare them for life. Because that’s what a good parent does.

Now, keep all of that in mind and stick with me as I shift gears.

An Illustration of Pruning

For 18 years I’ve been trying to grow tomatoes. And not even a full garden of them; just a plant or two. And for 18 years they’ve alluded me. If I was able to enjoy a few pieces of fruit a year I was content. However, it wasn’t real contentment. It was more that I’d set that low expectation for myself. 

• “I can’t really grow tomatoes, but try try again.” 
• “A few is better than nothing.” 
• “Same old results…blight and wilt. Maybe next year.”

And the next year, I would buy my $4 tomato plant and do it all over again, expecting different results. Isn’t that funny? Doing the same thing for 18 years, but expecting the outcome to change. 

This year I decided enough was enough. Something different needed to happen. However, like all gardening, different people will tell you different things that will bring success. 

• Prune the leaves. 
• No, prune the suckers. 
• No, prune the first few flowers. 
• No, prune everything below the first few flowers.

The only common denominator was pruning. So I started pruning. And with every snip it felt like I was surely doing something wrong. If the plant produced it, then didn’t it need it? Wasn’t I removing something that might have been necessary for it to thrive?

However, with each passing week the plant grew and I would continue to prune. And without the extra branches, the main stem got thicker and stronger. And without the extra leaves, the fruit bearing branches had room to breathe, grow, and avoid disease. 

They didn’t get blight for the first time in 18 years. Dozens of fruit developed and are thriving. And for the first time I will have enough fruit to actually enjoy (that is, if my kids don’t eat them all first). 

Isn’t that so very much an illustration of life? Year after year it can be easy to find contentment in what we know. To set the safe expectations for ourselves. To cling tightly to the things we’ve produced out of our own efforts for fear that we need them to thrive.

To do the same thing year after year, hoping for different results, but not really allowing God to do His work to shape us to produce fruit. To fear the pruning process, rather than seek and ask God what He needs to remove from our lives.

Just as we would do for our children.

There is power in the pruning. Power in His shaping. Power in our surrender to His purpose.

Thank God for His Tending

The last 10 years have been one big pruning process for me. A house fire, lost communities, damaged relationships, my son’s accident, years of legal battles, lost income, death of loved ones, cancer and disease, church division, and on and on.

It’s been a process I’ve resisted and struggled through, clinging to what I thought I needed. And the last two years have been some of the hardest.

But thank God for His careful tending.

Looking back I can see how each snip was to make room for something greater. Just as we remove things from our children’s lives that aren’t going to produce a fruit of the Spirit, so the Father does that for us when we can’t see from His perspective.

I love that God allowed me to see a physical representation this summer of what pruning is. It’s not for harm. It’s not to cut down or destroy. It is to build us stronger, grow us taller, and keep us free of the things that will cause us to wilt, so that we can produce healthy fruit for the benefit of God’s kingdom.

The pruning is to mature us, just as our pruning of our children was to mature them. And as much as we love our children, can we even fathom how much more the Father loves us.

So every time you start to resist God’s pruning shears, remember how much wiser you are than your children. And thank God for being that parent for you.

If you’re in a time of pruning, I pray you’ll allow God to tend to you. Because pruning leaves wounds that need to heal.

Biblical Encouragement on Pruning

• But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
• “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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.” John 15:1-2
• “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?” Hebrews 12:5-7
• God disciplines us just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights. Proverbs 3:12
• “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:19-20
• For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

The Power of Prayer in the Pruning Process

If you’re anything like me, you may find it difficult to see the purpose of God’s pruning.

Have you ever noticed how a 3 year old’s favorite word is, Why? And then they hit about 13 and “Why” once again becomes their favorite word. They just want to understand. They want to know that the hard things they are going through have a purpose.

And so do we, as adults. Why, God?

If only the benefits of hindsight could be enjoyed while you’re in the thick of it, it would make that understanding we desire so much easier. But if we knew immediately, would it build our faith? Would it strengthen our stems? Would it produce more fruit?

Or would we go back to reliance on self, making our way through the world in our own strength?

For me, all of the pruning we’ve gone through the last 10 years has proven to have purpose. It may have taken years for me to see it. But God’s plan was woven through it the entire time.

So when the desperate questioning begins, transform your “Why” to prayer.

Instead of, “Why? What is the purpose of God’s pruning?” try these prayers. Just to begin with. Just as a jumping off point to bolster your faith until your prayer can become your own.

• Thank you Lord for the opportunity to grow stronger.
• Thank you Lord for removing the things I cannot see will do me harm.
• Thank you Lord for strengthening my character through dependence on you.
• Thank you Lord for building my faith. Help me to walk by faith, not by sight. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.
• Thank you Lord for pointing me on a path that is for my good.
• Thank you Lord for loving me to the point of polishing my edges.

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 2 Cor. 10:3-4

We cannot forget that Satan is doing everything in his power to keep us from Christian maturity and walking out the plans God has for us. We won’t stand a chance fighting that battle in our own strength.

But the Spirit gives us divine power to withstand and overcome. We are victorious in Him! We aren’t just feeble humans hoping to make it to the next day.

We are more than conquerers in Christ (Romans 8). We have the victory already! We just need to exercise it. Tap into the power of the Spirit, through prayer.

And as you heal from these wounds with open hands to what God’s plan is, your faith will grow, your purpose will strengthen and your fruit will be bountiful.

Keep going, the harvest is on the other side of healing.

~Sarah