The Gardner

It seems so inherent to who I am, but not to who He is. He sees it for what it is from the beginning, but for me it takes convincing. I don't even see it as a problem. God knows, though, that without it I'd be more like Jesus. So, at first, he just points it out. In my brokeness, I want to keep it. It's what I know. It's familiar. And it's usually selfish. Slowly, he stretches that part of me out. He pulls it out into the light so I can see it for what it is... something that I'm better off without.It is painful. It's not pleasant when God calls you on your sin... that you didn't recognize as sin in the first place.

When I think of pruning, I think of God cutting off branches that won't bring me life and maybe even some that are already dead. In my case, he has both taken things away and asked me to give them up... in that order. God, in his mercy, is patient yet firm. I want God's dreams for me, and to learn to trust Him completely. He's teaching me how to do that.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10