Trusting The Master Gardener

I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

“Dad, wait! What are you doing?” My tween-aged self had wandered into our garden and stumbled across the carnage of pruned tomato branches my dad was leaving in his wake as he moved swiftly down the row of plants.

“I’m pruning the suckers off the tomatoes.” His response floated up from his hunched-over form as he kept right on moving and pinching off branches, despite my fluttering about with horrified gasps. “We need to remove these suckering branches. Otherwise our tomatoes will suffer and won’t produce as much fruit.”

Of course, Dad was right, despite what initially looked to me like a plant murder spree. The suckering branches of tomato plants—if left to grow—steal nutrients and shade the growing fruits, leading to higher instances of disease and fewer tomatoes. What looked like the removal of important greenery and intentionally inflicted damage was an act of loving-kindness by the wise gardener, caring for and multiplying his crop.

As a farm girl who grew up around various garden and agricultural crops, I have found that the parables Jesus told about sowing, growing, pruning, and harvesting strike particularly close to home. I’ve planted, grown, pruned, and harvested plants myself. The temporary hardship inflicted to create a future crop that is both healthier and bigger is one with which I’m intimately familiar.

While that understanding doesn’t necessarily make my own pruning at God’s hands more enjoyable in the moment, it does create trust. Having been the pruner and having seen the results in the plants I cared for, I trust the process, knowing that God is the master gardener and is far more skilled than I am in knowing what or who needs to be removed from my life and when. I understand that the temporary reductions create resiliency and a better outcome based upon what God deems eternally important. Sometimes, our gratitude is forward looking, knowing that present circumstances, though temporarily uncomfortable, are an investment in God’s molding of a better version of you and me.

Julie

Today’s Act of Gratitude

How has God’s past and present pruning created a better version of you? Write him a thank-you and tuck it into your Bible for future discovery.