In other words, Who am I that God is spending so much attention on me? Why are You bringing so much misery and testing to someone as insignificant as I?
I sometimes ask the same question. What is the point of this continual discipline? My husband likes the illustration of tree pruning. At first God lops off the large diseased branches, the stuff in our lives that is obviously deadly to our well-being. Then He begins working on those branches that are out of place, rubbing against other branches, hanging out in positions that make the tree unsightly.
The third phase of His pruning is with a small sharp knife. With this He goes after the little things, the small branches that spell trouble. To the tree, these seem like healthy shoots, but the Master Gardener knows that the tree will be far better off and produce more fruit without them.
Pruning can be painful. As I read Job’s question, I started to feel sorry for myself. I’d already asked God to confirm today the thoughts of the past couple of days, but this self-pity was not a good way to approach my devotional reading. As I began, the first thing that I noticed was the use of the same Psalm as yesterday. I braced myself for another rebuke, but this time God answered my question:
Remember me, O Lord, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation, that I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your inheritance. (Psalm 106:4-5 )I ask God to visit me. I want His favor and I want to be saved from my sin, but then I say “ouch” when He does it? I asked Him this morning why He bothers with me. Certainly this is His answer. It is so I can see the benefit of being His chosen one, and that I can rejoice in being part of His family, one of His people. It is so I might glory in the wonderful inheritance that He has given me.
I know the good that God has blessed me with and how good it is to be one of His children. I know that being a child of God is better than doing my own thing. I know I also must be tested to see if my faith is absolutely sure of these things.
A verse in Hebrews talks about the faith of Moses who, “when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26).
Moses decided that it was better to serve the Lord and suffer reproach for it (which he did), than have all the fame and fortune Egypt could offer him. He choose the way of the Lord, which included discipline and the process of being transformed by God into the man God wanted him to be. Moses lost out on some things that the world considers valuable. Some of God’s people might even argue that he could have used all that fame and fortune to better serve God. Yet God knew what was the best for Moses, so Moses got pruned.
I’m not Moses, and I still don’t fully understand why God takes after me with His pruning tools, but I do know that Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
Branches are supposed to abide in the Vine, not be concerned about what our how much fruit they are producing. Jesus promised that as long as I cling to the One who bears that sharp little knife, I will produce fruit that will bless both Him and others. He wants me to simply trust Him, and not let His pruning knife scare me away, even when pruning hurts or makes no sense. He will show me the benefit of being His child and He will give me joy—and I will glory in what He is doing—not because I can see it right now, but because He said so.
No comments:
Post a Comment