Pruning hurts. Getting old, dying limbs taken off by our Father so we can bear more fruit can be painful. It’s the old parts of who you were before Him, the parts of the old “you” formed by trauma, rejection, fear, and survival in life. Some of the most painful pruning is the pruning of the defenses we’ve built from those things, defenses we no longer need because we have a Defender now.
For me, my defense was performance. As artists, we create for applause. We try to excel at things to achieve our goals, to gain validation from people, to be successful. We have to go from performing for the world to serving the King and not looking at the crowd. When we belong to Christ, our motivations have to change. We no longer use our gifts for applause; we now use them to glorify God. He cares about our character, our hearts, and the condition of our fruit. He’s not going to allow us to progress until those things have been removed. If He did, it could lead to our own destruction.
As children of God and servants of Jesus, we don’t get to care about the approval or validation of people anymore. If we still continue to insist on applause from people, the Lord will bring it to the light whether we are going to listen or not. He’s a good Father.
There is also the element of humility. Are you willing to not only forsake validation and applause but be an absolute fool for Christ? Are you willing to go where He calls you, sit in the low place, and wait on Him? God humbles the proud and exalts the humble.
If you are feeling stuck, maybe this is for you. I know these are things I’ve been being pruned of. I pray He helps us submit to the process and keep our hearts soft through the pain. It’s all for our good and His glory.
Praying for whoever reads this, the peace and protection of Christ, in Jesus’ name.
Steph