God prunes our overgrowth so we can flourish

"Every branch that does not bear fruit, He prunes so it will bear fruit, He prunes so it will be more fruitful."

- John 15: 2 (NIV)

Several years ago, I noticed thin, wispy branches sprouting on the trunk of my weeping willow tree the year after I had it professionally trimmed. As I examined the sudden growth spurt, I remembered the concept behind pruning trees.

I'm not a gardener, nor do I possess a green thumb. However, I have heard some facts about pruning trees. It's my understanding that pruning is done to cut off the parts of the tree that are dead or causing overgrowth. There is not room for the healthy new branches to come in when overgrowth is apparent. Lopping off the overgrowth causes new growth to occur; so once the tree is pruned, it starts to flourish.

I guess one could surmise from my willow's new sprouts that it was flourishing from the previous year's pruning.

In the Bible, many times, trees are used as analogies to refer to people. There are also passages that say God is a gardener. God uses gardening analogies to give us examples about our lives.

Like my willow, sometimes in our lives we may be healthy and going in a good direction, but we may be doing too much of one thing or may need to let go of something in order for something new to take place.

Just like the gardener prunes trees, God may prune or take away a few things from our lives through changes that may not be his best for us.

Letting go of a friendship that has been cut off or removed, eliminating a few activities to allow some new ones. Learning to say no to things that don't inspire you but you do anyway can be a healthy way of cutting back.

Pruning back isn't a bad thing, it's a necessary procedure for some new things to grow and develop in our lives.

• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. She can be contacted at P.O. Box 532 Grayslake, IL 60030; (847) 543-8413; or Annetteebudzban@aol.com.