Black Thumb

I have a confession. I am a plant killer. Honestly, I can look at a plant and it will shrivel up and die. It’s no secret. I can hear the silent cries of fear from the flowers and blooming plants when I walk by the Garden section at Home Depot. I do have this solace however. I am not alone. I have a friend, who will remain nameless, who once watered her beautiful southern azaleas with bleach mixed with water. Yep. That’s why we are friends. Plant murders stick together.

Seriously, with the weather changing and our allergies raging, I begin to think about the amazingly talented people who can actually grow a garden and keep plants alive on their front porches and in their hanging baskets. I have the utmost respect and admiration for you. A seasoned gardener told me once that plants are a lot like children. They just need lots of love, water, and discipline. Okay, I get the love and water. I have read the studies where plants grow at a greater rate when you play classical music and whisper sweet vegetarian love poems to them. And of course they need water. But how do you discipline a plant?Well, thanks to Google, I found the answer: pruning.

A recent study from Kansas University states, “Pruned trees yield high quality fruit much earlier in their lives and live significantly longer.”

So you are probably thinking, why do I care about fruit trees and pruning and your black thumb? The main reason is because it all has to do with you…and me….and the Ultimate Vinedresser.

In the last year, I went through a very trying, stretching time in my life struggling with some personal issues. I remember walking to the mailbox one afternoon questioning God. “Why do I continually wrestle with theseareas in my life that are dealt with over and over? I feel like I get over one great threshold and lesson in my life and there is another one staring me in the face.” God’s answer: Pruning.

Bill Johnson said recently “God rewards growth with discipline.” Ouch. That’s no fun. I would much rather enjoy a nice quiet time of peacefulness to bask in my maturity than…ugh…more discipline! But it makes so much sense in God’s kingdom. Remember the paragraph about pruning earlier? Properly pruned trees yield high quality fruit much earlier in their lives. Outside of my comfort or understanding of the process of God in my life, this makes it all worthwhile. High quality fruit.

In John 15:1-2, Jesus tells His disciples “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.” (Emphasis mine)

Here is the point, plain and simple: If you are experiencing some cutting here, tweaking there, pulling or stretching in your life today, realize that our Vinedresser, Father God, is pruning your life to produce even more fruit for His glory. He is producing high quality fruit in your life that will remain. Be encouraged, friend, you are a precious plant in God’s vineyard that He lovingly cares for and will do whatever it takes to bring you to a place of maturity, becoming more and more like Him. After all, He chose you! “You did not choose Me but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” John 15:16

So ladies, stay connected to the Vine and watch the fruit that grows in your life. It doesn’t matter if you have a green thumb or not. God does.