Making Room for New Growth

Here on this country hill, we have two lovely apple trees. They have powered through their blossom season, scattering petals on the grass like snow, and are now fully engaged in the work of producing tiny green apples.

We’re still eating applesauce from their productive past years—and if you walk into my kitchen and smell apple pie baking, the spicy goodness bubbling between the crusts would have come from last fall’s bountiful crop of Cortlands that landed in the freezer as apple pie filling.

If we’ve learned anything in over thirty-five years of gardening, it’s that the harvest comes at the Lord’s discretion, but one way we cooperate with God to ensure a good crop of apples is by pruning the trees. If branches start to go wild, not only is the fruit harder to pick, but also the tree wastes its energy maintaining branches and leaves when what we really want is rosy, red fruit.

In John 15, Jesus uses grape vines as a visual aid to help his disciples understand that his goal for them is abundant fruit, and often there’s a painful pruning of the vine to promote a bountiful harvest. What looks and feels like destruction and random chopping is actually a purposeful removal of something that would hinder growth if it were allowed to remain.

In pruning, what looks and feels like destruction and random chopping is actually a purposeful removal of something that would hinder growth if it were allowed to remain.

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“We prune what’s been damaged and broken beyond repair. We prune what distracts us, both inside and outside, from becoming who we are meant to be. Lastly, we’re invited to prune whatever is beyond our capacity to hold.” I found this detailed description of the pruning process to be extremely helpful, because our cultural context is always focused on adding and adding, but never subtracting.

Wilkinson’s thoughts on welcoming the pruning shears comprised just one chapter, but I also appreciated her emphasis on incorporating spiritual practices as daily rituals, a manner of thinking that gives weight to their importance in our formation. In an era that often feels scattered, lonely, and anxious, our tether to Christ opens the possibility of a life grounded in truth, present to our emotions and to our people, and available for every divine appointment.

“We prune what’s been damaged and broken beyond repair. We prune what distracts us… from becoming who we are meant to be. Lastly, we’re invited to prune whatever is beyond our capacity to hold.” Bethaney B. Wilkinson @BrazosPress

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Holding You in the Light,

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Grief comes to everyone sooner or later, and whether it’s the death of a loved one or the loss of some cherished aspect of our life or identity, God’s Word is crucial for grieving well. Past hurts have a habit of snagging our hearts in unexpected moments, but God provides abundant grace to help the believer move through grief without getting stuck and without wasting the opportunity to walk more closely with the Lord who lightens our darkness.

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Many thanks to Brazos Press and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which is, of course, offered freely and with honesty.