Before entering any new season or new beginning God will require you to be pruned. You will always have to give something up in order to gain something new.
Jesus said,
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you, for a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. John 15:1-4
When things grow and come to maturity in their season the fruit is picked and then the branches must be pruned so new fruit can come forth in its season.
When God calls you out of one season and into the next, not all of “you” can go. Most of “you” is pruned away so His glory can come forth in a new way.
As we yield to the process God makes use aware that certain things: old habits, expectations, thought patterns, and even some relationships cannot go with us, but with the cutting away comes the budding of new life.
It is the Lord who fill us with His glory and the Lord who empties us, only to fill us again with an even greater weight of His glory. As we let go of the things He asks for He gives us new desires, new expectations, new relationships, new ways of seeing things and new faith and strength to step into the new season.
But there is pain in being pruned.
Fear will come to try to make you think the pain of letting go is not worth the future. Habit will try to draw you back to the familiar because it’s easier stay stuck in things that don’t work anymore than to walk into the unfamiliar territory of a new beginning. The truth is, only those who are willing let go will be able to grab hold of the future.
This year as I prepare to create my vision board God is pruning me. It’s kind of scary having a blank canvas in front of me. As I spend time in the Presence of the Lord I am able to see things from His perspective and envision with brilliant colors a life that’s better than what I’ve let go and left behind.
The Lord’s promise is this: “I will not cause pain without causing something new to be born.” Isaiah 66:9
Beloved, as we enter a new season, my prayer for you is that you would not fear the giving up that’s required to gain the new things God has in store for you.
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