The Ugly Beautiful
I want to talk to you about gardening! Specifically, I want to talk to you about pruning and what I call “the ugly beautiful.”
Who is in the middle of a hard season right now? You know, the kind of season where you feel like everything is being pruned back to bare and you feel rather exposed?
If we are being honest, I think all of us can relate to some degree! But please, don’t despair! Pruning in the garden, and in life, is something that I’ve learned to regard as the “ugly beautiful!” It is painful and ugly but it yields so much more in the end!
If you don’t prune your trees and flower gardens, they will give you some fruit and some flowers but the plants become stunted, have dead woody spots and aren’t living up to their full potential. Let me give you some examples. The first set of pictures are of a pecan orchard near me. It is one of the largest producers of pecans in the world and it is beautiful! The second set of pictures are of a pecan orchard in Texas. The pruning process is brutal but, oh so necessary. What we would say is barren and exposed is what HAS TO HAPPEN to get maximum yield.
We are a lot like that and God doesn’t want us to stay stunted, bearing the minimum and not living abundantly. He wants us to THRIVE!!! So, while the pruning in your own life will be painful, rejoice because He loves you enough to cut out the parts of your life that need to go, shapes your heart by laying it bare and then continues to cultivate your life and you FLOURISH! Another example is my rose garden. The before pics are from January when I prune my roses! The after pics were taken this morning and my roses are just getting started!
Embrace the season of the “ugly beautiful” because in the end, it’s so worth it as we become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! You see, God is much more concerned about our conformity to the image of His Son than He is concerned about our comfort. In Hebrews 12:11 it says, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Proverbs 3:11-12 reads, “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline, or be weary of His reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom He delights.” What an encouragement to know that in times of pruning/discipline, we are His children - that He loves us enough to not allow us to stay as we are!
In Romans 8:28-29 we read, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.” We all really like verse 28 but, HIS PURPOSE is found in verse 29….conformity to the image of His Son. Every hardship, trial, and season of pruning will be used by God to conform us.
A few quotes from Charles H. Spurgeon:
“Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of.”
“I have looked back to times of trial with a kind of longing, not to have them return, but to feel the strength of God as I have felt it then, to feel the power of faith as I have felt it then, to hang upon God’s powerful arm as I hung upon it then, and to see God at work as I saw Him then.”
Do these resonate with you? Can you look back on the hard seasons and see the hand of God leading you, teaching you, protecting you, and conforming you? Two last thoughts:
Embrace the hard seasons: In James1:2-4, it says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let the steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” We embrace the hard seasons, not because it is fun, but because of what it will produce!
Abide in Jesus: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5) Our work is to stay close to Jesus, to abide in Him, so that we can bear much fruit for God’s glory!
