Pruning

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. John 15.1-2

God used this passage in a very special way at one time on our lives. It is one of those verses I can look back on in times of wondering and doubt and know that God is in control and that He speaks through His written word.

The year was 1991. Mary and I were teaching at Triana Village Christian School and had been for several years. We were told in April that the school was closing.

Bam! What a shock. We had thought that we had found the ministry for the rest of our lives. We loved teaching there and still have many fond memories of those days. They were special years.

But suddenly they were over.

What were we going to do now? Our hearts were broken. We knew we wanted to serve God in a vocational ministry. School had been going and we loved it so much so we had assumed that was it.

About six months later we had our missions conference at church. Mary and I were still in turmoil over our future. One night Ron Brooks spoke on this passage. He spoke of how there are times when God takes fruitbearers in the ministry and prunes them to make them able to bear more fruit.

As he spoke the Holy Spirit worked in our hearts. I don’t know about how the ‘more fruit’ has been working out over the years, but it became clear that sometimes even Christians who are serving and bearing fruit might be pruned to do more.

Pruning is never comfortable. Before we cry about it though maybe we should consider that God may just be doing some pruning in our lives to allow us to do more for Him.

I still miss the teaching. I still miss the school. But praise God for His pruning in our lives those twenty years ago.