Pruning

I love pruning but I have a dislike for electric pruning shears probably because of the summers I spent doing grounds work. My bosses taught me to prune the shrubs and trees by hand. The outcome was beautiful. I learned to appreciate the skill I learned and to admire pruning when it was done right. During my grounds work I grew to love trees and to admire the beauty of pruned trees. There was an art to it that I loved and appreciated.

This week I was forced to finish my pruning with lopping shears because I was behind and needed to get the job done. But every snip of the shears made me cringe and cry inside. I apologized to the shrubs as I pruned them. It made me sad to know that what I was hoping to avoid I simply couldn't do this year. Next year I will have to undo some of the damage the lopping shears created but this year I had no choice. As I cut it made me think of God and the work He is doing on me. Every cut that is made causes me to become a better person but He probably shudders too as He works on me. I'm sure there are times He wishes He could use a different tool or be more gentle with the cuts that He is making on my character. But He knows that the pruning process is necessary so slowly He trims away the debris and character flaws He sees. His intention is to make me a better person.

God is in this pruning process for all of us. He is working on each of us to make us better people. Daily God aches to make us into the people He intended us to be but it takes us relinquishing our life to Him so He can remove the weeds, thorns and overgrowth inside of us. My prayer is that all of us will allow God to do this work inside of us. Our daily prayer should be, "Lord make us more like you."