If you’ve been in enough Bible studies or Christian small groups you may have heard someone say something along the lines of, “I’m in a pruning season right now,”. This phrase is usually used to describe going through something difficult. This can feel harsh, and confusing, and we can sometimes tend to question why God is allowing the pruning to occur, but what we have a hard time seeing while we are experiencing pruning, is that what follows pruning is a season of incredible growth.

When a gardener prunes a plant, the act of cutting off dead branches actually helps to facilitate new growth. Similarly, when God is actively working in your life, sometimes He cuts off things that aren’t serving Him. But what pruning feels like, from the perspective of the plant, is hard. Pruning feels like hardship. It can be confusing, why did I grow that branch at all if it was just going to die and be pruned?

The saying “God works in mysterious ways” isn’t in the Bible, but what is in the Bible backs it up:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9

God’s ways are “mysterious” to us because His thoughts are so much higher than our own, as high as the heavens are from the earth. We may not ever get to know in this life why God prunes what He prunes, but we can always trust in His goodness.

Over spring break my husband and I finally got around to revamping our flower beds. They hadn’t been touched in two years and it showed. We needed all new mulch, some fresh potting soil and lots of repair. There were weeds galore and some plants were dead while others’ growth had far outpaced their allotted space in the bed.

After the cold snap we had this winter I really thought I was going to lose my rose bushes entirely, but as the temperatures continued to rise and the rains fell in early Spring the roses bounced back once again, but not without plenty of branches that needed pruning. As I got to work, I noticed that some of the branches that I cut off had one or two unopened buds. Left on the bush, these buds may have eventually blossomed into beautiful roses, but they were hanging off stems that were connected to dry, brittle, brown foliage. I regretted removing the buds, but I knew that the plant as a whole would flourish better without the dead parts. At one point I even unearthed a nasty surprise – there was a wasp nest inside the rose bush.

Wasps are pollinators, but they are also evil little insects that, in my view, serve no purpose other than to cause pain. They do provide pollination for the plant, sure, but they aren’t the only way for plants to propagate. There are healthier ways of achieving that goal.

Also, once we removed the brambles we found so many delightful surprises in our garden. We found these adorable, cartoon-like snails, as well as baby bunnies!

This is what pruning is like. God removes our dead parts so that the live parts can flourish. He reveals hidden malignancies so that we can utilize healthier methods of growth. He also reveals hidden life that was being stifled by the dead branches.

It may hurt to watch un-bloomed buds fall into the mulch, ideas and plans that never came to fruition, but we have to remember that our gardener is facilitating new growth in us. Our God is the God of life, and He knows just where to prune so that we may have abundant life.

I watched some buds fall to the ground in my life recently, and it hurts, but I know that the God who made the universe is working this for my good, and that He is trustworthy.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28 NIV

So when you’re in a pruning season, just keep in mind that what follows pruning is a season of incredible flourishing and growth, and trust the Gardener.

Update on the growth my rosebush experienced just a few weeks after pruning: