Trust Him with the Trimming

I gasped as I watched the seamstress wield her sewing scissors around the bottom of my daughter’s ball gown, trimming inches off the length of each layer. We had spent weeks searching for the perfect dress and waiting for it to arrive. The event was less than two weeks away. What if she ruins the dress? I wondered. There’s no time to replace it. But I remembered my friend’s words when she referred me to this woman: “There’s no one better! My entire family uses her.” 

The seamstress’s proven track record put me at ease. She knows what she’s doing, I assured myself. Minutes passed as she worked. She had finished trimming and placing the pins, and we could see what the finished product would look like. My daughter and I smiled at each other approvingly. Upon completion, it would be gorgeous.

As I watched the seamstress, my mind wandered to the parable in John 15. The scene Jesus described took place in a vineyard, not a sewing room, and a gardener did the trimming rather than a seamstress. Instead of preparing a gown to fit perfectly, Jesus was shaping people to bear fruit abundantly.

Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. . . . This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:1-5, 8, NIV).

To prune means “to trim by cutting away dead or overgrown branches, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth” (Oxford Dictionaries). I often forget the purpose of God’s pruning—to encourage growth and help me bear more fruit as I abide in Him—because I focus on the pain of letting go. I forget, especially when I’m fond of what He considers overgrown or no longer necessary, or think something is productive, even though He views it as dead.

When pruning, whether it’s trimming our schedules, beloved activities, commitments, or even relationships, we must remember the One who holds the shears.

God isn’t wielding them haphazardly any more than the seamstress wielded hers without skill and intention. The Master Gardener, our Heavenly Father, knows what He’s doing. He has a proven track record; He’s faithful to His Word, and His promises are true. So, we can trust Him with the trimming.

As we remain in Him and cooperate with His Spirit, He’s making us more like Himself (see Philippians 2:13, Romans 8:29, and Philippians 1:6). When we’re tempted to panic because of the Lord’s pruning, we can look to Him and glimpse the finished work He’s forming within us: a Christ-bearing, fruit-bearing people.

What aspect of God’s character or promise from His Word can you hold on to during a pruning season? How can His past faithfulness encourage you to trust Him presently as you glimpse the finished product: the woman He’s creating you to be?

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