A Lesson from an Oak Tree

I'm sitting on my couch, starring out my living room window. It is a gloomy day, as many seem to be lately, overcast and chilly. The warmth from the computer on my lap makes me not want to move, even though the laundry basket sitting nearby beckons my attention. The clock is ticking. The quietness of afternoon will soon be gone. The twins will awaken. The girls will be home from school. Before I know it, the second half of the day will be racing by me and I'll wonder what happened. How did I get from here to there?

As I look again at out the window, procrastinating and cherishing the silence, I notice something the first time -- the giant oak tree located only five feet from the front porch is quite marred on the side. The lumpy nodules quietly revealing the number of times branches have been cut away. Dozens within a ten foot section. I've never noticed them before, and I'm shocked. I've spent plenty an afternoon on this couch staring out the window. Why have I not had eyes to see?

Imagine if any one of those branches had a chance to fully grow? They would block the entry into the house! They would hinder access from the front door down the path to the mailbox. They had to be cut off, or they would have become like prison gates to our home.

God. I get it.

It may not look pretty. But pruning is necessary. You, Lord, have the bigger picture in mind. You know the landscape of our lives. You know where access to our heart, your dwelling place, will be blocked, if this thing continues to grow. You know how too much -- to many branches of sin or activity or ministry or hobby or worry or anxiety or fill in the blank -- growing wildly upon on another, will sap the life out of us and hinder your plan for our lives.

You know.

Lord, it may not be pretty. Not now when the cut is fresh, or later when the healed surface still indicates a place of pruning. But the work of Your hands is always marvelous and the purpose of Your design is always perfect for displaying Your splendor.

Isaiah 61:3
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

John 15:2
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 even more fruitful.