We had a late, hard freeze over the not-so-winter Winter months early this year and I realized too late that the flower bed my husband and boys built in the corner of the yard was juuuuuuust raised enough that I should've covered the bushes there. My absolute favorite of my plants, my Gardenias, turned brown shortly after. I was SO bummed! They don't flower for a super long time each year but when they do, my backyard smells heavenly. I could've kicked myself for not realizing that the soil would cool so easily.
But low and behold, as I was out trying to tame the crazy vines that make up the Star Jasmine in the same bed, I noticed that even though the majority of my Gardenia bushes were a dry brown, there were, in fact, green leaves growing on some of the branches again! I knew immediately what I needed to do. I HAD to prune them! I had to be sure to cut away every single leaf and branch that was NOT growing new greenery. I knew that in order for those bushes to give all of their strength and energy to the new growth, that the old had to be removed.
In doing so, I realized that was exactly what God is doing in my own life right now. Day by day, little by little, He's helping me cut away the excess, so I can spend my energy on areas of new growth. He is breaking through walls of self doubt, showing me all of the junk (physical, spiritual, emotional and relational) that is keeping me from functioning at my best.
There is so much "extra" in today's world. The pressure of expectations, the draw of instant gratification, the sexualization of every brand of every item that ever was, the constant idea that we need more or better every time we turn around, a new fashion trend every week, a new social media or game app to download, a new political candidate to trash, a new tv show that's all the rage...everywhere you turn, every aspect of our lives in today's society is telling us we're not good enough, we don't have enough, we aren't pretty enough or strong enough. We are in a constant race for MORE. NEWER. BETTER...
But what if in our search for better we miss entirely what is best??
What if while we are busy basking in the temporal, we completely forsake the eternal?
I see SO many people living life and shouting "YOLO!--You only live once!" But the reality is, (and I wish I could take credit for it, but I simply read it somewhere), You live EVERY day. You only DIE once. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed, today is all we've got.
So rather than get caught up in the immediate, the urgent, what if we spent our days focused on the important? Allow God to break us of our need for acceptance and approval, tearing away the focus of what the world says we need, and instead growing deeper in our knowledge of Him and who He CREATED us to be?
The hard part is, pruning isn't fun. And it definitely isn't easy. You have to step out of your comfort zone. You have to be willing to do the hard work. Maybe it's with your health. Maybe it's with your job. Maybe it's with toxic relationships in life. Whatever it is, if it needs to be left behind, stripped away or given up, I promise it will be for a greater purpose. Letting go, purging, allowing yourself to be pruned results in freedom to do more with the life you've been given.
Less brings more. I think I like the sound of that.
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