Pruning for Good

This spring, I planted a garden.

And by “planted a garden,” I mean I have become emotionally attached to several tomato plants, a few peppers, and some herbs that are all contained in one raised bed that now consume an alarming amount of my mental energy.  

I’ve never considered my hobby to be gardening, but in this season I’m getting dangerously close.

I have watched YouTube videos.
I have watched TikTok videos.
I have Googled things like:
“How often should basil be watered?”
“Why are my tomato leaves turning yellow?”
“Can peppers sense fear?”

At this point, I would like recognition for the sheer emotional commitment I have shown to keeping these plants alive.

Somewhere along the way, however, I discovered something both fascinating and horrifying to this inexperienced gardener….

Apparently, even healthy plants need pruning.

Not just the dead plants.
Not the struggling plants.

The healthy ones.  Did you hear that?  The HEALTHY ones.

If you pull up pruning online you will find thousands of videos with experienced gardeners confidently walking up to what appears to be a thriving plant, scissors in hand, where they just start cutting pieces off it like they are absolute crazy people.  
And always included in these videos, or at minimum in the comments section, it will say something to the extent that “this is good for the plant.”

I'll be real honest....it makes my stomach turn to think of whacking away at what appears to be my healthy tomato plant.

The more I researched, however, the more I realized that pruning is necessary as healthy plants will start pouring energy into the wrong places if they aren’t helped. Extra branches steal nutrients from the fruit that the plant is trying so hard to develop, and that ‘dead weight’ can (and will) limit future growth. Sometimes….(actually, most times)…..cutting back the healthy plant is what actually allows it to become healthier, fuller, and stronger.

(All the expert gardeners reading this are probably laughing hysterically at my complete lack of gardening knowledge, while the rest of us are sitting here absolutely horrified realizing we now have to go hack away at the very plant we’ve been proudly watching grow. So… you’re welcome.) ;-)

Can I be honest with you about something?
I think God has been teaching me through that garden.

Because this season of my life has felt a lot like pruning.

I’ve experienced things I never saw coming.
I've had disappointments I didn’t expect, and hurts I wouldn’t have chosen.

If I'm completely honest, there have been situations that have left me staring at God thinking, “I really thought we were growing something different here.”

Anyone else feel like that?

Here's the thing that makes pruning especially confusing for me….
God doesn’t only prune dead things.
Sometimes He prunes fruitful things.

Jesus said, “…every branch that does bear fruit He prunes.” John 15:2

He prunes not because He’s angry.
Not because the branch failed.
Not because He’s trying to punish me....

A good gardener prunes because he sees potential for even greater growth ahead.

But let’s just be real….. pruning still hurts.

It hurts when God removes what felt safe.
It hurts when He cuts away something you loved, or a dream you had.
It hurts when your life suddenly feels smaller, emptier, or cut down in places you weren’t expecting.

And if I’m honest, there are moments I’d prefer for God to use a nice encouraging yellow sticky note with a smiley face on it instead of sharp garden shears when it comes to my own spiritual growth.

If you are feeling the same way I do, or have ever felt this way, here’s the encouraging truth about our painful pruning that has anchored me lately:

When God prunes, He is not abandoning the branch…He’s not abandoning me.  He's not abandoning you.

Instead, because He loves us, He is tending to us ever so carefully.

Many times, what often feels like loss may actually be preparation.
What feels like an ending may simply be necessary trimming before new growth awakens.

When the visible fruit disappears, and life looks (and feels!) trimmed back, bare, and everything feels uncertain….

Those are the moments that our roots learn to cling even tighter to the One True vine.

Friends -- even in these pruning seasons, we have to remember that sometimes God does His best work where it can’t be seen yet.

So, if your life feels painfully pruned right now there's hope.

Know that you are not forgotten.
Know that the Gardener still has His hands on you.
Stand confidently knowing that He has not walked away from the garden.
Stay focused on Him knowing that new growth is coming.

Not because the cutting didn’t hurt.
And not because this season is easy.
But because we can trust that the Gardener is good.

And good gardeners never waste a pruning season.