A Splinter, a Pruning Saw, and a Loving Gardener

So, today the Lord exposed a splinter I had lodged in my soul.  I kind of knew the splinter was still there, but I had learned to avoid ever touching that area and only winced when others accidentally touched it.  And then today, in God’s lovingkindess, He blew His breath of life once again into my inmost being and I felt the little splinter….and I finally saw it from His perspective.  

It’s amazing how a little splinter can cloud my vision and harden my heart.  It not only hardened my heart towards a particular individual, it hardened my heart towards God.  And truly, I never understood that until His Spirit revealed it.  

What was my splinter?  Resentment.  How did Jesus prune me?  By convicting my heart of sin.  What was my response?  Confession and repentance….and not just to God, though I began there; I was compelled to confess and repent to the person whom I had come to resent.   

And what did God do?  He forgave me and healed me.

And what did the other person do?  They forgave me and spoke words of life to my soul.

During worship tonight, I had this inner vision of the Lord as the master gardener, tending the garden of my soul.  I saw him pruning a large section of this one bush.  I saw that some sort of parasite or fungus had diseased a large branch, almost down to the root.  This section was completely dead, no leaves, just bare branches.   Jesus came with a small hand saw and with surgeon-like precision, carefully cut off that large section.  His work was thorough, and nothing was left that was dead.  His pruning left a strange and a bit unsightly open area on the side of the bush.  It did not look very attractive to my eyes.  Then, I saw him kneel down and carefully plant seeds all around the bush.  I knew he was planting flowers that would eventually surround this particular bush.  His goal was not to camouflage what pruning he had done, but to create beauty out of ashes….almost to draw attention to how healthy the rest of the bush looked, even with its odd, new shape.  In my vision, I saw Jesus smile, very pleased with his work.

How do I feel now?  Free.  And honestly, I did not know I wasn’t free in that area before.  I knew there was still an issue, but I did not know that “issue” was actually sin that I needed to confess and repent.  But now that I’ve experienced the amazing love of God so perfectly and specifically demonstrated in this gently pruning, I feel such peace and thankfulness.  Well, and I do feel a bit humbled and exposed, for sure…..but the good kind of exposure…like when an unexpected, but refreshing breeze hits the nape of my neck.

I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be be even more fruitful.

John 15:1 - 2