The Weaker We Feel, The
Harder We Lean On God.
And The Harder We Lean.
The Stronger We Grow.
-Joni Eareckson Tada
Progressing through life is risky. Sometimes it’s downright painful, and we all must face it at one time or another. It’s like the rose. Life contains both beauty and thorns. Think about it.
When my children were learning to walk, one minute they were filled with pride as they toddled a few steps ahead. The next minute they would risk a painful fall. But they never gave up.
Life got riskier has they grew.
I’ll never forget when my eldest son got his driver license. Oh, what a happy day it was. That is until he backed out of the driveway, went down the road, and out of sight for the first time. Fear struck my heart—and with good reason! It’s taken a few fender benders for him to learn to drive.
Even on my wedding day, I counted on the joyous times my spouse and I would share, but I never considered the heartaches that would also come our way. It’s apparent that life is a mixture of the two.
If that’s true and life has such potential for pain, why try? We try because it also has the potential for great joy!
Yes, God uses the hardships of life—not to set us back, but to cut back the things in our lives that prevent us from growing, becoming stronger, and more fruitful. These are the ways of God. If you and I are smart, we’ll allow Him to use His master sheers so that we can bloom as He intends.
When the thorns seem to sharp and painful, God promises to strengthen and guide us through the thorns until at last a beautiful rose has bloomed. It’s worth the risk, my friend. Besides it takes both beauty and thorns to make a rose.
Love the devotion and the blog post, Micca!
The pruning process is often so painful. He is so faithful to tenderly lift us up and cause us to grow and bear fresh fruit. And I treasure my silbings in Christ who quietly and prayerfully go with me through the pruning.
Thanks, Micca, for this great encouragement. Love you!
Wanna-Be-Fruity,
Sharon 🙂
Thank you for the devotional today! It really hit home.
I love that quote by Joni Eareckson Tada. I think I am going to print that out and post it somewhere! Good stuff! Thank you 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend!
– Kate 🙂
Micca–
I loved your devotional today from P31. That pruning process is hard on us at the outset, becasue it is addressing something about us that needs to change. Yet God does it because He loves us, and wants to set us free from that sin that is weighing us down. He loves us too much to allow us to continue down the road of self-destruction.
I wish that pruning is a once in a lifetime event. But pruning takes place every year– sometimes more. God will faithfully continue the process until we are perfectly complete.
Thanks for your insight and encouragement for all of us today–
Julie Coleman
Thank you so much for the great devotional and post! I love how you have looked at setbacks as cutbacks. I want to be more fruitful, but I’m not always so excited about how that becomes possible…enter said cutbacks. 🙂
I am so glad we can trust the Master Gardener. 🙂
Blessings,
Kimberly
Beautiful devotion – and post – today. The cutbacks really hurt but I so want to be fruitful for my savior. Thanks
Beautiful devotion today – I have seen God’s pruning in my life and didn’t recognize it for what it was at the time, but looking back, I’d want Him to do it all again, because it definitely led to increase and growth. Bless you for sharing such a wonderful lesson of God’s love of our character with us. May I move more toward reflecting Him and less of myself.
Micca,
Thank you so much for the reminder of the set-back/cut-back issue. I have studied it before and I have lived it before. In the last few weeks, I feel like God has pruned me back to nothing but a stick in the ground. I started with a counselor this week, and I can already see a few signs of life starting to appear again….tender, but green and full of hope. Thank you for reminding me that God’s pruning is for my ultimate good and my ultimate growth. Blessings to you this weekend, Lee
Oh wow, this is the second thing I’ve read today that deals with pruning. In fact, wait! The other was your Proverbs 31 devotion for today! I was just telling my mother-in-law that we (my husband and I) are going through a pruning stage. Then to read these two articles on it! Micca, you have blessed me so much since hearing you at HAH. I also spoke with you about how Zephaniah 3:17 is very special to me as well. I also shared with you that Building 429 has a song that I believe is linked to Zephaniah 3:17. Here’s the link to that song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=888CCNCdPE8
Be Brave!
Jennifer
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/zephaniahway
That is an incredibly beautiful post!
Love it.
Much love,
Angela
My mom and I spoke at a ladies conference today, and I had to chuckle when I read this post. My mom’s early Christian walk had been “such a breeze” – they accepted Christ when I was four – that she prayed for the Lord to test her faith (without asking my dad’s permission about that prayer, of course. 🙂
Note to self: don’t pray that prayer unless I am completely ready to be pruned, sheared and cut to the ground. 🙂
I have been struggling with this pruning process for quite some time on a particular issue. This thing in my life I keep reacting to, I thought I was done with it. It is has now resurfaced and I am facing the same feelings and reactions again. I know what the mature thing is to do, but inside of me is screaming to throw a tempertantrum. I know God is grooming me for something better and my reaction to thing this time is important. It hurts and it hurts badly when I have to always be the one to behave in a mature fashion. How do we stay consistent and not fall off the fence?
0Micca,
Here again, I see evidence of contrast enhancing. If it were not for the bitter we wouldn’t know how sweet sweet is…My giftshop is called Bittersweet Farm. My mom didn’t know what bittersweet was when I named it. When she asked me why I named it that, I told her, “it is life” bitter and sweet. Then I told her about the plant growing on my windmill…
I also think of Richard Foster’s description of discipline…
“scheduling the pain of life first”. Life includes pain. A healthy fruitful plant must be pruned for greater fruitfulness.
I am glad with Jesus, it all ends with sweet. (Rom 8:28 among others)
I love how you love Jesus, and His word.
Blessings!
Love the devo. I am going through some painful situations right now in my marriage, but I truly believe God is allowong me to go through these things to weed out what’s allowing me not to hold heartedly following him. I am so amazed how Gd uses painful ituations to get your attention and for me personally to learn something. There are things I need to “cut back” in order to fully trust in my Father. I am his daugther and he wants me to have peace of mind not be all jacked up. Peace is God’s will , and anything outside of that is outside of his will. Thank you all for your comments it really opened my eyes to greater things. Thank you God for loving me outside of myself! To God be the Glory!!