Pruning Season
Suffering. Temptation. Hard circumstances. Loss. Grief. Death. Lack of understanding.
Growth. New life. Peace. Triumph. Abiding. Trust. Faith. Redemption.
I’m certain that when you read the above words, you had a visceral reaction to each of them. As your eyes rolled over “hard circumstances” and “death,” you likely went to a place in your mind when you were in the midst of such times. Then, as you read “new life” and “redemption,” you likely cracked a smile or felt hope rise in your heart. You may think both categories could not be further from each other, but I’d argue they can be synonymous after all.
The fall always brings about pruning. Plants die or go dormant to survive the winter. Oftentimes, people will cut back their plants until they are nearly to the point of dying in order that they may grow back stronger the following year. Nature can teach us some of the most beautiful lessons.
I remember so clearly the fall semester of my junior year of college. I spent that summer living in New England — a far move from my college town in Chattanooga, Tennessee — on a mission trip with Cru, the parachurch college ministry for which I now work. That summer was difficult. Long work hours, the loss of a child on the staff team, and many tough lessons later, I was burnt out. Until that point in my life, I had never really been acquainted with the idea of suffering as a Christian. Though in my heart I knew that the God of Christianity was real, I could not fathom that I would want to follow him after the hard summer I had working in his name. The feelings of grief I was experiencing from a summer of unmet expectations, sadness over the loss of the staff couple’s child, and my warped view of God through the lens of my pain led me to feel hopeless.
A few months after I returned from New England, I started going to counseling regularly. I would say that next year was grief counseling as I wept and lamented all the things I was going through. Every week that I sat on the couch in my counselor’s office was another week I was being pruned. Though I didn’t see it at the time, God was softening my heart, strengthening me and preparing me for other hard things that would come later in my life, as well as redefining my faith and trust in him.
Perhaps a familiar verse, John 15:2 says, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”
A little later, in John 16, Jesus continues, “Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
In John 15, Jesus paints a picture that should come as a comfort to us. Every time we are being pruned — through whatever circumstances we endure — is a cause for more fruit to be produced. In the following chapter, Jesus offers the hope that our pruning — our suffering, our grieving — is never wasted and that he has much more prepared for us. His joy and presence are the weapons we use to fight against the lies that he is not sufficient to provide for us in our time of need.
I’m 22 now, a recent college graduate during a pandemic. Though my junior year of college is not far behind me, I sit and ponder the things I learned during that hard season. I think of other hard seasons as well — the ones where friends left, where I was hurt by a church, where I faced medical diagnoses that have affected me greatly. I think about the pain of losing grandparents, of watching friends turn from the Lord to a life of emptiness, of the times when my heart was broken.
Then, I remember the Lord’s faithfulness in my life. Not once has he abandoned me, nor has he questioned or doubted his love for me. David Jeremiah painted a beautiful picture with his words when he wrote, “The vinedresser is never nearer the branches than when he is pruning them.”
As I meditate on the Lord’s promises throughout Scripture, namely that he is near to me, that he delights in my presence, and that he causes me to grow as he prunes all of the mess out of my life to replace it all with pure joy, I can’t help but sit humbly at the foot of his cross. The Father pruned Jesus of the sin he took on for us so that we could, through his sacrificial death and resurrection, partake in the infinitudes of his glory, righteousness and love.
A fitting song for such a topic is Hillsong’s “New Wine,” and the lyrics are provided at the end of this post. As you read them, meditate on the words of the song. If you’d like to listen to the song as you read the lyrics, you can do so here. I hope the words encourage you to turn to our life’s vinedresser, Jesus, who sustains us and grows us and provides all we need for every season.
Lord, we ask that you would prune us, refine us and make us more like you through every trial, joy, sorrow, and faithful step following you. In all things, may you be glorified, Jesus.
“New Wine” by Hillsong
In the crushing
In the pressing
You are making new wine
In the soil I now surrender
You are breaking new ground
So I yield to You and to Your careful hand
When I trust You I don’t need to understand
Make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus bring new wine out of me
In the crushing
In the pressing
You are making new wine
In the soil I now surrender
You are breaking new ground
You are breaking new ground
So, make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me (x3)
‘Cause where there is new wine
There is new power
There is new freedom
And the Kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames
To carry Your new fire today
‘Cause where there is new wine
There is new power
There is new freedom
And the Kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames
To carry Your new fire today
So, make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
God, I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me (x3)
Make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
Make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
God, I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me (x8)
‘Cause where there is new wine
There is new power
There is new freedom
And the Kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames
To carry Your new fire today
‘Cause where there is new wine
There is new power
There is new freedom
And the Kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames
To carry Your new fire today
So, I say, make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me (x3)