Is God a 'deadheader'?

  One of the pots I have hanging on my deck is a combination of plants I’ve been nourishing from wee things. It contains three types of plants, one of which has large blooms that take days before they wilt and require pruning. Two others have tiny blossoms which bloom all along the stems.  I had been pruning the bigger pansies in another pot on a regular basis so they would flourish with new blooms. But the tiny flowers I left on their own. It seemed too much work to deadhead every wee flower.

   However, I began to notice that my Alpine Calamint plant was looking a little pathetic, with brown stretches and pretty flowers only evident here and there or at the end of the stalk. I realized then that I should be deadheading those, also, no matter the time it took. I had to be extremely careful to remove the dead flowers without disturbing the tiny ones in bloom. The results of my efforts showed within just a few days, as the plant began to flourish with abundant flowers all over its branches.

   Much has been written about the pruning process and its analogous connection to our spiritual growth, most importantly by Jesus, Himself.*  What struck me this time, however, as I was removing these tiny dead flowers, was how much tender patience was required. Scripture says that even “a bruised reed He will not break...and a barely flickering wick He will not put out.”**  I hadn’t thought about this aspect of His character in relation to pruning. How carefully and tenderly He tends and prunes us, without damaging our vulnerable blooms. He nurtures us when we look sickly, by removing the dead stuff in such a way that, although we may feel the twinges, nothing beautiful is destroyed in the process. 

   A less patient gardener might find it more efficient to just lob off portions of the live with the dead, knowing that he wouldn’t kill the whole plant. Many a time I have found myself saying, “Whoops, sorry about that, little plant!” An expedient loss or two for most gardeners would be no big deal. But our Gardener will not even break off a bruised reed, where there is struggling life still in it. He takes consummate, painstaking care of the tiniest details of our growth. With Him, nothing and no one is expendable.

   The One who created intricate details in the countless variety of flowers, which bloom today and wither soon after, still hovers tenderly over them. Rejoice that you are of much greater value than these and that He wants you to flourish, not just in this temporary life, but forever. You are His prized creation, Tell Him you're grateful for His careful pruning even when you sometimes feel as if you'd rather He left you alone, with the dead stuff still hanging on. You'll give Him a chuckle.

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*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. --John 15:2

**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. --Isaiah 42:3