We had many firsts this year at summer camp. Some of the firsts were the locations we were able to fish, others were the Sportsmen who were able to experience camp, and one that I was excited about was having our first LCU camp team be part of our staff, allowing me to take a breath and focus more on spending time just listening to our boys.
One of these conversations was one young man was feeling that this summer God had put him in position to have significant spiritual growth; he wanted to keep experiencing his fresh growth on a continual basis. Initially my mind went to John 15, and shared with the young man about abiding in the vine of Jesus. I discussed with him my experience with the apple trees that came with Janie & I’s new home last summer. Both trees were lush with beautiful green leaves and were very healthy with many branches, but neither of them had produced much fruit. In fact we only came away with enough apples to provide one bowl of apple sauce from both trees, not very productive. It wasn’t until the fall that I found out what was going on with the trees. I was informed by and arborist that whereas the trees looked healthy, all the extra branches were sucking the nutrients out of the tree therefore keeping it from bearing fruit. She called these branches the sucker branches! I was instructed to prune the branches back off the tree, and when I thought I was finished pruning to prune even more. It wasn’t until I was able to see the results of this pruning that John 15 became a completely different reality to me. This year both trees are producing bushels of apples and I have even gotten to enjoy eating them straight from the tree!
It was after explaing the fruit metaphors with a real life experience that I was able to share with this young man that your walk will not always “feel” like the high he was experiencing this summer. Sometimes we need to be pruned so that we can bear more fruit. These times can and usually are unpleasant. It was then that we talked about Whose you are!
I shared with the young man about how we belong to God and are called to be like Jesus! That is the future glory Paul tells us about in Romans 8 and what we will experience in order to “…be conformed the image of his Son,” It is this truth that we must remember when our “feelings” don’t align with that truth. In these instances we need to put our trust in what we know to be true, and not how we “feel.”
As you reflect over this story what season are you in? Are you in a season of growth, or a season of pruning. What is it God is taking out of your life (sometimes these can be good/positive things) so that you can bear more fruit. Make sure you take time to abide in the vine and only focus on the calling He has placed on your life for the season you are currently in.
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