08/31/2021
Have you ever found yourself in a season that felt like God was stripping away all the rough places of your heart? Maybe He is stripping away the pride in you through one hard conversation after another with people in your life. Or maybe He is revealing complacent sin in your life that has been swept under the rug for too long.
In John 15:2, Jesus explains that there will be areas in our life and in our character that must be pruned back so that we are able to bear more fruit. If we remained where we are, there would be no capability for growth or further fruit.
While the refinement process is painful and may seem counterintuitive on the surface, we know there is beauty that comes forth because of the stripping away of our sin.
If we resist the pruning seasons of our life, we are robbing the growth and beauty that is on the other side of the pain. When God chisels away at our hearts over time, we will come forth a true masterpiece of our Gardener.
Today, may we not shrink from the pruning knife but trust the hand that holds it.