“Have you noticed that your corn plant is blooming?” daughter-in-law Kandee asked during Sunday lunch a few weeks ago. To my amazement, I turned to see a long plume of flowers growing from a 20-year old plant that had never had a single blossom. To say I was surprised is an understatement! How could this very old plant that had never produced anything but big green leaves now have a beautiful flower stem growing from it?

The next day as I walked into my house from a trip to the grocery store, I was greeted by an unusual fragrance—extremely sweet. It smelled as if my home had turned into a receiving room at a mortuary. The smell was wonderful but almost overpowering. Where was it coming from?

It finally dawned on me that the scent was coming from the corn plant on the sunporch. As the blooms on the corn plant had opened and grown larger, so had its magnificent fragrance!

Over the next few days, the fragrance became stronger and stronger. In fact, it was almost too much. Prone to allergies, I was beginning to feel some physical reactions to the overpowering aroma.

My curiosity was now aroused. A quick internet search was very informative. I learned first that corn plants have an official name: Dracaena fragrans.

To my surprise and delight, I also learned that blooms on this plant are rare—occurring only after the plant is decades old—and when the plant is well cared for. Well, I can’t claim to do anything special for the towering plant. In fact, at least once since I’ve had it, I cut it all the way back to nothing but stalk because it had become so tall and gangly. And now, after many years since it’s amputation, it was blooming!

Another very interesting fact is that the plant is a night bloomer. Its blooms open at night and close in the daytime.  Weird, huh?

For several days my house smelled delightful. Over time, though, the plant began to fall over. I couldn’t keep it standing up straight. Rather, it literally bent over on my couch. The only course of action seemed to be to prune it again—to amputate all its foliage and cut it back to nothing but stalk. Sad, in a sense, since it had taken years to produce its blooms.

As I chopped the top off and examined the butchered plant, I was sad. It had finally given me beauty and now it was a nub.

On the other hand, it reminded me of the Scriptures.

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.” (John 15:1-2 NLT)

My plant had produced. It was now top heavy and needed pruning. One chop left me with a two-foot high bare stalk.

I took the severed top, discarded the bulk of the plant, cut the stalk into two pieces, and planted them. Then I waited. After several weeks, the “mother” plant began to put on new shoots. Leaves burst out on all four sides.

The two transplanted stalks also began to show signs of life. They, too, had new leaves bursting forth. Out of pruning came two new plants! In time—maybe 20 years from now—I will have three, not one, blooming corn plant!

Such is the Christian life. As we grow and mature in our Christian walk, we are sometimes pruned—and it hurts! The Lord takes away the excess in our lives in order to make us more productive. That “excess” is sometimes very precious to us, but it may be hindering our Christian walk. The excess may be some idol we have erected in our lives or some sin that we need to leave behind.

Dave Furman, author of the article If God Loves You, He Will Prune You,* explains: “Pruning often happens during our trials because suffering is a prime time for the revelation of the idols in our hearts. We can’t really grow spiritually and turn away from our idolatry if we can’t identify our own idols.”

Having suffered for 12 years with a debilitating nerve disorder that has left him disabled and in constant pain, he adds: “Many of my idols have been revealed to me during this ongoing trial. Until I began to suffer with this nerve disease, I didn’t know that I was an impatient person who had control issues. For the longest time, I blamed my anger on my pain, and I blamed my impatience on my wife. . . But God was graciously pruning me by exposing my sin. . . What I had was an opportunity to repent and grow. . . Our trials are times to trust God to use our pain to make us more like Christ.”

James explains it this way:

^“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” (James 1:2-4 NLT)

By “pruning” us, the Lord makes us more productive and more fragrant:

“But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.” (2 Corinthians 2:14 NLT)

Pruning is, in fact, evidence of God’s love for us:

“My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and don’t give up when he corrects you.
For the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” (Hebrews 12:5 NLT)

No, pruning is not pleasant! When I broke my neck and spent three months dependent on others for help with transportation, washing my hair, and even taking a bath, I learned what Dave Furman learned—I was impatient, too busy, and too much of a control freak.

The Lord “pruned” me out of that experience, and I finally took to take to heart His word: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalms 46:10 NLT)

What about you? Experienced any pruning lately? If so, I’d love to hear about it. You may very well encourage another reader with your experience.

Thanks for reading, sharing, and responding.

“May the Lord bless you
and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor
and give you his peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26 NLT)

 

*Dave Furman (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) serves as the senior pastor of Redeemer Church of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The church currently has more than 60 different nationalities gathering weekly from all around the world. In 2006 he developed a nerve disorder in both of his arms that renders both of them nearly disabled. He is the author of the newly released Kiss the Wave: Embracing God in Your Trials and Being There: How to Love Those Who are Hurting. He and his wife, Gloria, have four children.