John 15:1-2 “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 it so that it may bear more fruit.”

I think all Christians enjoy seasons of fruitfulness, when we can see God at work in and through our lives. It’s exciting to be a part of His amazing plan, to feel His life coursing through us like sap from the vine flowing out to the branches.

However, there are other seasons in our lives, seasons of pruning, when God cuts away at things. Sometimes He has to excise pet sins and little idols from our hearts. Sometimes the pruning comes in the form of trials and difficulties that He wants us to endure with patience in order to grow up in our faith.

Whatever its cause, there’s no way around the fact that pruning is painful. The only thing that can carry us through such seasons is the knowledge that the pain is not without purpose. God only prunes us to make us more fruitful in the future.

Because there are seasons of pruning, there must also be seasons of healing, times when we simply need to catch our breath and rest in the Lord. It’s easy to get impatient in such seasons because they are not as dramatic or exciting as fruit bearing seasons, but they are also necessary to the life and growth of the branches.

So what season do you feel yourself in? Is it a season of pruning, or healing, or fruitfulness? Whatever the season, I hope you will continue to cling to Jesus, drawing your life from Him, like a branch draws its life from the vine.