One month and 12 days to my 24th birthday in 2019, life dealt me a blow. In the midst of my confusion, God told me he wanted to prune me. I had to look up the dictionary for the meaning of prune.
prune: to reduce something by removing things that are not necessary
I didn’t know what this pruning would entail but I was willing to let God go ahead and do it. God began to shed me of ideologies, thoughts and standards that weren’t his. It was a loooooonnnngggg process. You see, this process taught me a lot. Let me paint a picture for you.
I had always known the importance of being confident. However, I struggled with confidence and the few times that I displayed confidence, my motivation wasn’t exactly right. I just did it. God had to teach me from his word how that the fact that he is an active participant in my life is enough reason to be confident. So, my confidence isn’t tied to how I look, what I know or what I have; it is a function of Jesus in my life. This revelation was humbling because as I journeyed in this knowledge, I realized that the presence of God is all we really need. So, when life tugs at the things we know or have, we are not perturbed because they can’t tamper with the Jesus in us. This means that I need not be scared of failure because there’s no failure in God. Whew!
In another case, God had to adjust the lens that I view people with. I can be very critical of people (as I am to myself) because I do not like complacency or any form of mediocrity. This means that when people don’t move at the same wavelength as me, it unnerves me. However, I have learnt to adjust this lens because we are different and the sweet thing is, it has also made me appreciate my uniqueness better. I no longer see the things that I do as normal.
The examples of how God has been pruning me is inexhaustible. Some were painful, others were funny but importantly, God is taking away unnecessary excesses and baggage that complicate my journey.
One thing this has taught me is that God is intentional about the seemingly small areas of our lives. He wants to be involved if you let him. As I approach 26, I intend to submit myself to more pruning. Trust me, it’s not an easy process but the results are tangible and glorifying.
So, yes, God prunes and while he prunes, he stays with you to allay your fears and when he’s done, he exalts you.
