I was listening to my children as they conducted their devotional one morning. The topic was “spiritual pruning”. You know, allowing the Lord to remove ungodly habits, relationships, mindsets, hurts, unforgiveness, doubt, fear, misunderstanding, concerns, sickness, pain, etc. which are hindering His perfect will from coming to pass in your life; infected branches, if you will.
A thought occurred to me… Often, instead of rejoicing over the Lord making changes in us and for us, we ask Him to keep the “infected branches” in place.
We may find ourselves saying, “Oh Lord, just make this work. No Lord, don’t touch that.” Or saying, “Pretend Lord, the works of my flesh are Your best and the same as what You want, Lord.” (Genesis 17: 18-19) We want God to put the rotten, broken, infected, vulnerable, unfruitful, and dead branches back into position.
We request a band-aid from the Father, rather than pruning, so we can continue to feel okay. Or, we say we want God to fix our lives to make them look like Him, but never actually allow Him to do His work in us. When God, on the other hand, is saying, “Let Me cut that off, let Me remove this, let Me have that; because, these things that I am asking you to give Me, don’t reflect Me in your life– I’ll give you something better.”
I can hear the Lord saying, “I’ve got you. Trust Me. I won’t let you down. My will is best. Take everything I have for you – My perfect (complete, entire, lacking nothing) will.”
Read Isaiah 61:1-11, today. As you read, consider, the LORD Jesus is more than your hero coming on the proverbial “white horse” to rescue you from your sins and the peril of Hell. He is also the author and finisher of the good your Heavenly Father desires to manifest in your life. Meditate on these Scriptures throughout your week.