After installing a new wood floor throughout most of my home in 2013, I am now having to tear it out again and replace the whole thing, due to water vapor emission from the slab (which insurance doesn't cover). In addition, I have a nasty mold situation under the wood flooring.
Searching for some discipleship materials, I came across the following article that I had written for MTS back in November of 2013. It fit my current situation so well that I thought I would share the article with you......
So many times reading a verse of Scripture, the Holy Spirit
will open up a deeper understanding of the verse than we have had before. That happened with me a few days ago with
John 15:2b: “He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear
fruit.”
The verse doesn’t say “He prunes us so we will bear fruit.” Rather, it says, basically, that if we are bearing fruit, we will get pruned.
Obviously, you and I want to be in that classification of
“fruitbearers”, but…….with that calling comes cleansing and repeated
pruning – in other words, suffering, struggles, problems, pain, persecution
– repeatedly, continually.
The last part of the verse gives the reason: “to
make me bear more and richer and more excellent fruit.” It’s like a cycle – suffering and
struggles = bear more fruit = more suffering and struggles = bear richer fruit
= continued suffering and struggles = bear richer and more excellent fruit……and
so on. We can’t have one without the other. He says so.
Sunday in church the pastor was talking about the burial of
Joseph’s father Jacob and how all the officials of Pharaoh – a huge entourage
of nobles and elders and guards – went with Joseph and his family to Canaan to
bury Jacob. There, at the threshing
floor of Atad, they mourned loudly for a whole week. (Genesis 50)
Listening to the pastor talk about mourning in our own lives, I suddenly
started to cry and had to really struggle to stop. Life had been tough for a long time, years
and years and years, seeming like an endless barrage of problems and pain and
rough situations. Just the last month
alone had included a nasty flood (including a new wood floor) when bathtub
plumbing broke, evacuation of my commercial building because of a gas leak, a
broken foot, unfixable AC condenser, etc.
Pruning….pruning….and more pruning.
But then came Monday noon.
I had been praying much Sunday about a specific situation, asking God
for a very specific thing. And Monday
noon He answered that prayer in an unbelievable, awesome, truly miraculous way! And so quickly!! My mourning turned to dancing as He lifted
me up in glorious praise to my God!
And this week has been one of truly unexpected opportunities
to witness for Him – opportunities just falling into my lap – and more reason
to praise.
As I stopped and thought about the years of tough things, I
realized that all during these tough times He has been continually pulling me
back up to praise with His love gifts - to show He is there, involved in my
life second by second, loving me intensely and totally and unconditionally.
“I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness (suffering), and I will speak tenderly and to her heart
and make the Valley of Achor (troubling)
for her a door of hope and expectation.
And she shall sing there….”
Hosea 2:14-15
