Growing raspberries.

Do you know the best way to ensure a good crop of raspberries, or almost any other berry fruit?

After the summer harvest of those fat, juicy and delicious fruit, a good “berry grower” cuts the canes down, often pruning right back to ground level, permitting the plant to remain dormant over winter, and with the onset of spring, new branches grow, allowing another crop.

This sounds rather counter-productive, but many types of fruit grow best on new “wood” and often leaving the previous season’s branches actually causes harm in the long term. As any good gardener knows, pruning is good for most plants, especially those that are intended to produce fruit, or splendid flowers, such as roses.

Pruning is also God’s principle way of “growing” you or I. Ouch…….

Oftentimes, the pain and tribulation that we experience (and so readily attribute to the dark lord) is God’s handiwork!  The wonder of it all is that in the end we will produce fruit in our lives that will be far sweeter, and more mature than if we had tried to do the work ourselves.

This is one of those paradoxes in the “upside-down kingdom” that we as believers inhabit. When God does the pruning, pain is definitely gain!

When Jesus was facing His final hours before the cross, He prepared His disciples for the battles and the assignments ahead with some eternally powerful truth. They were obviously familiar with grapevines; He chose them as an comparison of their - and our - relationship with Him. In John chapter 15, beginning with verse 1, Jesus says: "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."

Jesus explained to his disciples (and hence, us) that all the things they or we do for Him have to flow from our deep relationship with Him - "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing ... If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you."

But…. If we want to grown spiritual fruit, there will come a time of pruning, when the unfruitful areas of our life will be cut away.  I have even experienced unfruitful relationships being pruned, often an emotionally painful, but necessary process.

Can you imagine what the roses or raspberries that you have to prune might say if they could talk during the pruning process? Would their comments be similar to ours at such a time? Might they say “why me?” or “hey, this hurts… stop it now!” Would we say to the plants, “I know this hurts, but it is for your benefit!”

Un-pruned plants and fruit trees soon run rampant and any fruit produced is inferior and usually tasteless.  I was once tasked with pruning the roses at church, well I thought they were several rose bushes, but in fact there was only one,  it had grown right along the fence line, and was a veritable jungle. Many trailer loads of prunings later, I finally located the actual plant. The following season the rose produced an abundance of beautiful blooms. Most members of the church had never seen a bloom on this rose before!

Our Lord had to put at least one of His disciples in his place with a rather strong rebuke, when He said to Peter, “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not. And when you are converted, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32

This occurred shortly before Peter’s weaknesses were exposed for all to see; the night when Peter denied that he knew Jesus. This night was to be a night of intense pruning for Peter, but it was absolutely necessary… if Peter was to become the leader that Jesus wanted him to become.

This is often the reason that tests and trials are placed before us… to see how we will respond. Just as Peter was “agitated” as wheat might be when it is being winnowed, so will we “agitated” when tests come our way. This process is designed to see if any faith will remain, or if our professed belief will be found to be nothing but chaff. We can all take solace from Peter’s human reaction on that might of trials, but we can take greater comfort from Jesus’ reaction a few days later when He so lovingly restored Peter to “full fellowship.”

The tests that you may be facing right now may well be God’s way of seeing what you are made of!