From a heart being pruned...

There she was, a woman with stylish Saturday afternoon hair stuck in the rose bushes. At first, she couldn't find any humor in it, nor any comfort. Instead, she only discovered that familiar anger that arises within her heart. All week she would hear a whisper say, "Prune those rose bushes." Then, with no intention of answering that whisper, she would drive away, take the kids to school, and come home to return to her normal activities of cleaning the house, running a business, and begging the Lord for comfort.

Every day she would be reminded, and every day she would reject it. Then came Saturday morning, the day she vowed to "Prune those rose bushes." Finally, she felt ready, she had her gardening gloves and pruning shears ready, but as she looked deep into the heart of those rose bushes, she knew this would be a challenging task. It had been two long years since she even touched or maybe even allowed her eyes to see them. The last time she began the pruning, she was not prepared. She didn't own a pair of gardening gloves or pruning shears, but she did have kitchen scissors. The Lord would teach her through the process, and it was no easy lesson. It would include hands that were swollen from many thorn pricks and a rose bush that only survived by the grace and mercy of God.

That Saturday morning, after a great trip to Lowes with her husband and her new pair of gardening gloves, she came home only to find she was still trying to escape the vow she had made. She stood there, matching her heart to the heart of the roses. Six neglected bushes, overgrown and being suffocated by what was dead, were in much need of pruning. What she saw was a reflection of her own heart, which had grown bitter by the suffocating of what was dead.

At first glance, one wouldn't think it was as bad as it appeared. However, the longer her restless heart stood to see the overgrown rose bushes, the more she knew this would not be easy.

"I am the grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me." - John 15:1-4

As she began with the first rose bush, this scripture flooded her thoughts, and the hardened heart inside her immediately began to melt. She knew it was time to embrace yet another beautiful lesson from Jesus.

To prune a rose bush would mean trimming the bush by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems. To prune her heart would mean she would surrender and allow the Holy Spirit to cut away a calloused heart, a root of bitterness and fear that leads to pride and self-sufficiency. This branch will not produce fruit. It is rotten, dead, and in need of the Gardeners pruning.

Through this process, with every cut she made on her rose bush, the Holy Spirit was cutting away the places in her heart that were overgrown and dead. He would often use her husband to show her what their relationship looked like, causing him to laugh at funny moments, even when she was about to cry, and have him stand there and wait for her to ask for help, although she never did. Then, when she would try to resist the Holy Spirit and His leading, He would find a funny way to draw her back in, even if it meant her hair got tangled in the thorns of that rose bush!

Today as I look at those rose bushes, I am marveled at how only a couple of days later, they are bursting with life, so full of new roses and branches! That whisper hit my ears as I sipped my coffee this morning, saying, "Thank you for allowing me to prune your heart while you pruned those rose bushes."

From a heart being pruned, I want to encourage you not to resist the Holy Spirit as He wants to prune your heart. Maybe you are staring at the heart of that bush, knowing it will be challenging, but take the risk of getting your hair stuck in the thorns and say yes to your Gardener.