A Dying Plant, Saved By Tough Love
My
plant was dying, but I saved it with tough love by getting rid of the
dying part.I didn't know what was wrong with the plant, I thought it had
been getting enough sun light, water and TLC. You just know something
isn't right. I had been struggling with this plant for about 4 years, it
was a problem plant. It was the only struggling plant out of all the
plants I have at home.
Sometime we struggle and we need the extra help, I refused to throw it away, I worked with it, nurtured it and never gave up on it. Every time I thought it wasn't going to live, I would pray for an answer and I would try something different, I remember one time it just flopped all over the place and I knew it was over for the plant, everyone kept telling me to throw it out and I decided to tie a ribbon around the plant to hold it together for about a month. I planted it with coffee grains, sprayed it with sugar and water and then fed it with egg shell water, all of a sudden it started growing again and standing on it's on. I would sing to the plant and gave it nurture everyday. Well a few weeks ago I saw it falling apart again and then I saw one side of the plant looking very healthy, so what I decided to do was remove and get rid of the damaged part.
I thought right at that moment, that's what God does, he removes the damaged part of us, what we don't know God knows, he see beyond the outward appearance, he see what causes the damage, the hurt and bruises. I cut off half of the plant on one side, so it looked funny because one side was looking alive and healthy and I had cut the other side down to the roots, on yesterday, I told my husband to look at the plant the new roots were coming up healthy in just a matter of days, I took away the damaged part that was hurting and destroying the entire plant, when I removed the damaged part. the renewing and restoring process began.
Like a shrub that needs to be shaped and formed by the Gardener, it's the same example of Christ being the Gardener in our lives where he needs to prune us into shape by ridding us sometimes of unwanted things. God is not about to throw us away, so He removes that which is unwanted to restore back to new life, reinvigorated and starting over. Never give up on a person, place or thing, not even a plant, sometimes it takes the extra efforts, sometimes it takes love. The same thing with God, He never gives up on us.
What is the point of pruning? A master gardener knows that pruning makes plants healthier and more productive.
Sometime we struggle and we need the extra help, I refused to throw it away, I worked with it, nurtured it and never gave up on it. Every time I thought it wasn't going to live, I would pray for an answer and I would try something different, I remember one time it just flopped all over the place and I knew it was over for the plant, everyone kept telling me to throw it out and I decided to tie a ribbon around the plant to hold it together for about a month. I planted it with coffee grains, sprayed it with sugar and water and then fed it with egg shell water, all of a sudden it started growing again and standing on it's on. I would sing to the plant and gave it nurture everyday. Well a few weeks ago I saw it falling apart again and then I saw one side of the plant looking very healthy, so what I decided to do was remove and get rid of the damaged part.
I thought right at that moment, that's what God does, he removes the damaged part of us, what we don't know God knows, he see beyond the outward appearance, he see what causes the damage, the hurt and bruises. I cut off half of the plant on one side, so it looked funny because one side was looking alive and healthy and I had cut the other side down to the roots, on yesterday, I told my husband to look at the plant the new roots were coming up healthy in just a matter of days, I took away the damaged part that was hurting and destroying the entire plant, when I removed the damaged part. the renewing and restoring process began.
Like a shrub that needs to be shaped and formed by the Gardener, it's the same example of Christ being the Gardener in our lives where he needs to prune us into shape by ridding us sometimes of unwanted things. God is not about to throw us away, so He removes that which is unwanted to restore back to new life, reinvigorated and starting over. Never give up on a person, place or thing, not even a plant, sometimes it takes the extra efforts, sometimes it takes love. The same thing with God, He never gives up on us.
What is the point of pruning? A master gardener knows that pruning makes plants healthier and more productive.
- Sometimes branches die and must be cut away.
- The plant may be "leggy" — spindly and weak. Pruning a plant like this corrects its growth, causing it to put out new shoots in other places, and ultimately strengthens it.
- The gardener may find disease or insects. Pruning removes the infestation, keeping it from spreading to the rest of the plant.
- With some plants like chrysanthemums, early growth must be cut back several times for the maximum number of flowers to appear.
A master gardener knows exactly when, where, and how much to prune. The plant does not! Its job is to submit to being pruned.
After
pruning, the plant is reinvigorated. New, directed growth results. The
plant produces more fruit than it would have otherwise.
Jesus told us that he is the vine, we are the branches, and the Father is the gardener. We've got the
master gardener who knows exactly what and where to prune in our lives.
He can see things in us that we can't, and he knows how to correct
them. Like the plant, our job is to submit to his pruning.
It's
important to understand that God's pruning can cause us temporary pain.
It is not easy to see something you held dear in your life cut away
from you, even if deep down you realize you are better off without it.
It's even more difficult if you don't understand what's happening or you
resist being pruned.
In
this process, because of our weakness we have to depend 100% on God's
mercy and to accept to be disciplined. This dependence and discipline is
illustrated very well in John 15: 1-4: "I am the true vine, and my
Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no
fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will
be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have
spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can
bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear
fruit unless you remain in me."
Every Christian, is spiritually pruned by God, "because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son." (Heb. 12:6). The word "purge" (kathairo - in Greek) means "to clean." In Greek, it was used to refer to cleansing corn (separating the corn from the waste material), and cleansing the soil of weeds before planting a crop. Spiritually speaking, God removes every sin from our life that impairs us to bear fruits at maximum level.
We don't really want to go through this process, even if we know that's for our good and for his glory. However, there is another reason to endure this discipline - a Christian who lives according to his Father's will, is a blessing for the church he attends. There are too many churches without Christians pruned by the Lord, churches where the fruit of Holy Ghost is missing.
About the ways God "prunes", there are many and various: sickness, hardship, loss of material goods, slander and persecution, loss of loved ones, grief in relationships, or war. God allows troubles to prune off the things in our lives that drain away our energy and rob us of our capacity to bear fruit. God is the master gardner, He knows where we need pruning in our lives, some of us need to be renewed and revived. God knows what to cut away and He rid us of things that are dead in our lives and things that need to be reshapen, if we only allow Him to prune us and sometimes yes it will be painful, but there is a song that say "No Pain, No Gain". You have to learn how to go through the process of being pruned to become a stronger and better person, to be Christ like, surely if Christ suffered and died on the cross for our sins, can you just imagine what a horrific death, the torture, rejection to bear the burden of our sins and you complain about what is a little pruning is going to do to you. Christ was without sin, He did nothing wrong, we did everything wrong and everything was wrong with us. Please Lord continue to prune us, renew us and revive us again.
Every Christian, is spiritually pruned by God, "because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son." (Heb. 12:6). The word "purge" (kathairo - in Greek) means "to clean." In Greek, it was used to refer to cleansing corn (separating the corn from the waste material), and cleansing the soil of weeds before planting a crop. Spiritually speaking, God removes every sin from our life that impairs us to bear fruits at maximum level.
We don't really want to go through this process, even if we know that's for our good and for his glory. However, there is another reason to endure this discipline - a Christian who lives according to his Father's will, is a blessing for the church he attends. There are too many churches without Christians pruned by the Lord, churches where the fruit of Holy Ghost is missing.
About the ways God "prunes", there are many and various: sickness, hardship, loss of material goods, slander and persecution, loss of loved ones, grief in relationships, or war. God allows troubles to prune off the things in our lives that drain away our energy and rob us of our capacity to bear fruit. God is the master gardner, He knows where we need pruning in our lives, some of us need to be renewed and revived. God knows what to cut away and He rid us of things that are dead in our lives and things that need to be reshapen, if we only allow Him to prune us and sometimes yes it will be painful, but there is a song that say "No Pain, No Gain". You have to learn how to go through the process of being pruned to become a stronger and better person, to be Christ like, surely if Christ suffered and died on the cross for our sins, can you just imagine what a horrific death, the torture, rejection to bear the burden of our sins and you complain about what is a little pruning is going to do to you. Christ was without sin, He did nothing wrong, we did everything wrong and everything was wrong with us. Please Lord continue to prune us, renew us and revive us again.
Blessings
J.P. Olson
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