Terry and I planted a tree, recently. It was pretty big. Not like a big, established magnolia tree or anything; this is a lemon tree. But it is still big and heavy. Once we got the hole dug and ready for the tree, it took the both of us to lift it down into the center of the hole, and I had to hold it up in place for Terry to get the soil and dirt positioned around it.
I had no idea there were so many thorns on a lemon tree. My shoulder looked like I got into a fight with a cat, and the cat won.
Once the tree was firmly planted, though, we knew it was going to take root and grow. Already there are little buds growing on our tree, and one day we will have fresh lemons to squeeze and make lemonade! (Corny, I know, but I will).
The tree was dying right after we brought it home. It was super hot, we had to get it out of the grow pot it was in from the nursery, and get it into the soil. Terry (the one of the two of us who manages to keep plants and trees alive, as opposed to the other one of us who seems to kill all things, living) nursed this tree and really brought it back.
The tree taking to the soil and the watering job Terry does, will produce fruit. Jesus told us His Father is the keeper of the vineyard, and God prunes the branches so they will produce more fruit. The pruning part is painful. (John 15:1-2) But it produces more fruit. So God always has a plan in what He is doing during the painful pruning.
As I thought about the lemons I am going to have one day from this tree, I thought about the pruning we did that day in the brutal heat, planting it. That night when I got out of the shower and put Neosporin on the scrapes on my shoulder and arm, I thought about how much love God pours over us, as He prunes us.
He prunes us so we will produce more fruit. In the pruning, we get uncomfortable, and our faith is challenged and tested.
I want every aspect of my life to bear fruit for Jesus. This will not happen until I deny myself, first. I have to completely and totally surrender to Jesus.
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” - Matthew 16:24-25 (NLT)
I can feel the Holy Spirit tugging at my heart, trying to get my attention on some things. These things are stemming from something I have been asked to do, and I know will put me in an uncomfortable situation, I’ll be honest. Friends are going to disagree with me. Followers might stop reading my work. Some friends might even stop talking to me over this decision. The truth is, my gut said, “Do what’s safe. Don’t rock the boat. Stay out of it. Things are fine the way they are being run, now.”
Except doing what is safe is not what is right. Maybe the boat needs to be rocked in order to die totally to myself and serve Jesus. If I stay out of it, things that need to change might not change, and others might mistake my silence for approval. Things are not fine the way they are being run, now, or I would not have been asked to do what I was asked to do.
The more I pray about it and seek wise counsel, the more I realize no matter what, every decision should not be whether or not it makes me comfortable, but whether or not it honors Jesus.
My faith was firmly planted decades ago. But the pruning is what has made it so much stronger, and so much more about Papa and so much less about me. If I try to hang on to what is safe and comfortable, will it be worth it, only to lose it? And if I risk it all and give up the perception of control for Jesus’ sake, won’t I save it, in the long run?
The answer, of course, is always to do what honors Jesus, and not us.