Yesterday, July 4^th was a rare moment of triumph for me in the Benedict household and the culmination of a 7 month long wait for vindication. Sound dramatic?  Well, it was!

Backstory: As everyone knows, I have a vegetable garden in the back yard.  One of the pleasures of moving back to Pennsylvania has been a very productive garden turbocharged by the legendary topsoil of Lancaster County.  It’s not for nothing that our area is called the “Garden Spot.”

But there are some challenges.  While the garden gets full sun in the heat of the day, our backyard also has a few trees that shade the garden in the early morning and late afternoon.  Last Spring, I successfully “topped” a small maple tree that was blocking the afternoon sun and that worked quite well. So, as a result, last fall I decided to “prune” a large willow tree that shaded the garden in the early morning.

“I think I’ll do a little pruning on the willow today.” I said casually, one Saturday morning in December.  “OK.” Pam replied. I had dropped it into conversation several time over the past weeks, so it was no surprise.

After she left to do a bit of holiday shopping, I borrowed an extension ladder from the church, fired up my chain saw and went to work.  I went as high as I could safely manage and started lopping off branches. Hm… that doesn’t look quite right, zip, there goes a branch, zip, there’s another. Wow this is a big tree… zip, zip, zip, zip, zip.  I was really hoping to be done and have everything cleaned up before Pam returned.  But it took longer than I expected and at the worst possible time with branches lying all over the place, I looked up to discover Pam standing out on our deck with a horrified look on her face.

“I thought you said ‘prune!’”, she protested.

“It’s pruned.” I called out with what I hoped was a playful and winsome tone of voice.

She was not happy.

“Wait until Spring.” I insisted.  “Come the 4^th of July, you’ll love it.”  The snort I heard let me know that she was thoroughly unconvinced.  She was probably thinking, “You just killed my favorite tree.”

Through the winter and early Spring, we’d talk about the tree often.  The kids would razz me, Pam would tell the story and my Life Group just laughed and shook their heads. “July 4^th, July 4th, JULY 4TH!!”, I’d say. When friends stopped by, I’d try to rally them to my side.  “Look out at that tree.  That’s a pretty good prune job, wouldn’t you say?”

Silence, then, “Oh my.” Was the common response.  I was starting to worry.

I maintained a poker face, but secretly began praying… “please, Jesus, please let that tree sprout in the spring.”

It was late in the spring after most other trees already had leaves that barely discernible shoots slowly started to appear.  I would scan the tree every morning. Yay, I see green!

Fast forward to the end of June and there wasn’t much talk about the willow.  But the tree was growing, slowly at first and then faster and faster.  And so yesterday, July 4th, the moment of truth arrived.  I gathered the family.

Me: “Well?” I inquired.

Pam (with a smile): “OK, kids, let’s all say it in unison, ‘Dad, was right.’”

Me (chanting): “Say it again!” “Say it again!!” 😊

Whew, Praise God, willow trees are tough.

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Throughout the spring, though, I gave a lot of thought to pruning.  And, of course, this is a well-used metaphor for God’s activity in our life.  God “prunes” or “refines” those he loves. That is, he removes from our lives things that keep us from becoming more like Jesus or growing in grace. It’s tough stuff and it hurts.

John 15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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.

Hebrews 12:11 “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Psalm 66:10-12 “For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.”

Proverbs 3:11-12 “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”

Now, I’m not equating my amateur gardening techniques to God’s perfection.  But I do see a parallel because I easily forget that God is always active in my life.  He cares more about my growth that I do and like an expert arborist he’s constantly removing unproductive branches.  He allows or (at points) brings pain, trials and struggles to foster spiritual maturity.  I find myself second guessing the process, especially in the “long winter” seasons when I can’t see a discernible purpose or benefit.  But it’s a necessary and unavoidable part of discipleship. And similar to my kids, in perfect 20/20 hindsight, I can look back at times of pruning and see that God was very precise and targeted in what was cut away to bring about true flourishing to my life.  I may have gotten lucky with the willow tree, but God is an expert gardener.

I wish I had the faith to see and believe in real time what I know to be true after the fact.  But this too is part of becoming more like Jesus. God loves us too much to allow us to stay the same and pruning is part of growing up in Christ. Trust the process and the heart of the Master Gardener.