Ralph Waldo Emerson observed, “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” He was one of many contemporary authors and philosophers to note that there is often a strong sense that natural things speak to a reality that is much larger than the physical picture that they present. The Colorado Rockies, the bush of Africa and the English countryside are natural wonders that have filled me with awe and a sense that life was much larger than what I could touch, see or feel. I am not sure I can remember anyone telling me that they haven’t experienced a larger than life moment, at some time, during a personal encounter with nature.
A long time before the genius of Emerson penned this observation, The Bible chimed in very specifically:
Romans 1:20 NASB
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Creation is one of the ways that God speaks to people and His voice is so loud through its medium that mankind really needs to pay attention. It doesn’t have to be an epic landscape to contain a message from The Lord. Even a simple encounter with birds (Job 12, Matt 6, etc.) can have instruction from Him or revelation about Him. It is both exciting and sobering to consider that Jesus may speak to us on our next walk outside or a commute to work through the surroundings that we encounter. We don’t have the excuse that God isn’t talking to us because we all encounter nature every day.
Beyond the creation speaking, scripture uses natural metaphors to teach us:
John 15:2 NASB95
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
A branch that bears fruit is a person who is able to do so because of rich relationships with the Lord personally and with the people that God has connected him to in His Body (see the rest of John 15 and 1 Cor 12:18). The fruit bearing branch shows godly authority (see John 15:7) and character (see Gal 5:22-23) as a testimony. Any branch/person is subject to pruning, defined by one source as the selective removal of unwanted or excess parts of a plant to improve its health, structure or appearance. The Lord decides what is removed and when it takes place in order to cause fruitfulness to continue and increase in the future.
A recent personal experience
Some time back, my mother planted a tree in the front yard that she named after me. Eventually one of the lower branches made the tree look imbalanced and we removed it. After the removal, it became even more apparent why cutting this branch was a good choice. First of all it was much heavier and more taxing on the rest of the tree than it looked like at first glance. There was a serious long term threat that the tree could split at the trunk because the stress of one side wasn’t balanced by the other. Secondly, it had become entangled with higher branches, causing them to crack, negatively affecting their function. Lastly, the sunlight under the tree was largely prevented from reaching the grass that was struggling to grow under the branches. All of these areas of difficulty were improved, in very short order, when this branch, which turned out to have the weight and substance of a small tree on its own, came down.
In the midst of this process, The Holy Spirit whispered to me, “I have been doing this to you.” Initially, I didn’t see the relevance, but The Holy Spirit began connecting the dots between this natural pruning and some very current events in my own life. A week or two earlier, a longstanding relationship had come to an abrupt end. Even though we had been working together for years, when we asked about a particularly disturbing set of events, the call was terminated and we have not heard a word since asking about the situation. Though it was an emotionally difficult experience, we’ve come to realize that God had pruned this relationship out of our spiritual orbit so to speak. The same day that we removed the limb, a new relationship called us and asked us to substantially increase our involvement in their fast growing work. The fruit came quickly because we were no longer burdened with the dysfunction of the limb/person that didn’t want the help on offer.
Pruning is a challenging and rewarding process
After reflecting on these events with Trina and others, we believe that God has been pruning or adjusting our relationships for much of the last two years. Not every change is the result of the separation that comes from sin as in the case described above. Sometimes a new assignment, like the one that we now have in England, requires different relationships than have previously existed. Because of the new connection with Morningstar Ministries, we’ve formed several dozen relationships across Europe that have grown strong over the last four years. We are also profoundly strengthened by the messages that come from the Morningstar leadership on a regular basis. This change has really helped position us for the new work in front of us.
Ephesians 4:15-16 NASB95
but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, [16] from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
We are also impressed to share with our relationships that pruning is both necessary and cyclical in the life of a Christian. The tree that bears my name has had more than one limb removed from it and almost certainly will need more done in the future. Likewise, either because of dysfunction or a new need arising, ministry relationships have changed for Trina and I in the past as well as in the present. While it is very important to have the Holy Spirit direct any process of changing relationships, every Christian should expect, from time to time, a pruning or change in the way we relate with another member of The Body of Christ. When God directs our relationships, they are not only manageable, but also a source of strength in the challenges and battles that lie ahead.
