Sometimes we simply need pruning. Our season of life has shifted and we are holding on not wanting change. We know the grace has lifted and yet we cling to what we know even though this part of our lives is not bearing fruit. Perhaps one of these things fits your circumstances:
Your job has become less challenging, maybe push button and you lack creativity for change
Your marriage or a significant relationship is on life support and needs to be recharged
Your last child has left the nest and you are miserable missing the old life
RECOGNIZE THAT CHANGE IS NEEDED
There are a multitude of things that we continue to do, recognizing we need to make change, but paralyzed by the thought of change. Change is part of the dynamic of being human. Resisting change can lead to feeling flat, depressed or even the inability to be creative. Another sign is loss of energy and interest. We must take stock of the season we are in and adjust.
Spiritually speaking, we may find ourselves in the same boat. Your spiritual life feels flat. Bible reading no longer speaks to your heart or prayer time seems flat. Perhaps even your church attendance has waned because you can’t seem to connect.
BUT GOD
He is the Gardner. Jesus is the Vine and we are His branch. Apart from Him our lives become dull. Chances are that somewhere along the line you have disconnected from the Vine. It happens. Perhaps there has been a seasonal shift in your spiritual journey and you may be going through a dry season spiritually. Jesus spoke of this very thing.
I am a true sprouting vine and the farmer who tends the vine is my Father. He cares for the branches connected to me by lifting and propping up the fruitless branches and pruning every fruitful branch to yield a greater harvest. (John 15 1-2 TPT)
FRUIT BEARING
Did you catch that? God the Father prunes the fruitful branches in order to yield more fruit. Gardner’s know that pruning is an essential part of gardening. In order to have more blooms, we prune back the flower. In order to have more fruit, we prune the branches.
I am the sprouting vine and you are my branches. As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you, but when you are separated from me you are powerless.
Union with Jesus, intimately connected to Him, is our place where fruit is prolific; where fruitfulness will stream from within us.
Seasons of pruning are for a purpose- to bear more fruit. And during those seasons, we often feel spiritually flat, and disconnected. What to do? Re-establish your connection to Jesus. Fight your way back if you have to, but cling to Him. These are difficult times in which we live. The saints before us went through their share. They fought the good fight and bore kingdom fruit.
So if any of you reading this finds yourself in a season of change and you feel empty and fruitless, go back to the basics. Being a Christian is not about going to church, though it is important. It is not about being in a small group with other Christians, though that is essential too. It is about a personal relationship with Jesus. It is about clinging to Him as the only true support that you have. He gives us life in union with Him. Is it time for you to return?
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