Pain: pondering the pruning

Pain: pondering the pruning

by Joel Howard

"Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit." John 15:2, ESV

I can relate to the ones who say

Why me? Why me? 

Psalm 73 says it well when it describes

The joy of the wicked

Why them? Why them?

Why me? 

Thinking of the pain

John 15 can explain

That the wicked, he takes away

While the work continues in me...

Pruning hurts

"Carried away" doesn't

And its not that I'm singled out

For a reason to complain about and pout

I am pondering the pain of pruning

How long, friend, have you too been

Thinking of persistent pain

Trying to make the connection in your brain?

Have you, too, been wondering

Why the consistent siphoning? 

What is this completing in me? 

Why is it for others more easy? 

Well, as you sit on your surgical bed

In your heart, as you groan within

Remember the vine-dresser prunes to win

He likes its fruit, so he does it again

I guess I cannot avoid offense

Of the hearer who would vent: 

"Not fair! Not well-planned!"

I cannot take away pain's concept

But the scripture does say

God has it that way

He uses our pain

He inflicts it and does say:

"I like what I see..."

So, let us believe

This pain makes us free

Accept Him, and believe