The Pruning Process

by Brittnye Davis

It was the tree that sold the house.

We’d been living in south Lubbock, and at the time, it was about as south as the city went. A massive, empty field lay on the other side of our fence line, and our windowsills were permanently lined with dirt. The two saplings in the backyard provided minimum shade, making the yard unbearable most of the year.

So when we drove up to our new home, and a towering 40-year-old oak greeted us in the front yard, we were thrilled. The backyard pecan tree was just as big, providing so much shade that we could spend all day outside without a sunburn.

Finally, trees! Shade in the summer. The dream of every West Texan.

Until those beautiful green leaves fell off that fall, and we learned about the great responsibility and maintenance required to own such magnificent pieces of creation.

Every fall, we raked loads of leaves. We swept up acorns and picked bucketfuls of pecans. The trees kept growing and producing, and I was pleased with how things were progressing until a wise voice informed me the trees were overgrown and if weight wasn’t removed, broken branches would be the outcome.

What I had ignorantly assumed were healthy, robust trees were actually burdened trees. Weighed down almost to a snapping point by unnecessary overgrowth.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1-5)

The trees handled their trimming better than I did. After multiple trailer loads were hauled off, I was devastated by how much was removed. Yet the trees stood taller, continued growing and producing, and over time, I could see the results of the work.

We, too, are a magnificent creation, and our great gardener tends to us out of unmatched love and wisdom. Part of the growing process includes the discomfort of pruning away the unnecessary things weighing us down so we can enjoy unburdened and fruitful lives.

Yet God never asks us to do the work independently. Instead, He calls us to remain tethered to His son, Jesus, the one who sustains us and gives us life and purpose. And when we remain in Him, trusting the pruning process in faith, “this is to [His] Father’s glory… so that [His] joy may be in [us] and that [our] joy may be complete.” (John 15:8 & 11)