It Had to Happen

Introduction

Anyone who's ever lived outside of Texas for more than a year has a keen experiential knowledge of more than 1 1/2 seasons. There's a Spring, there's a Summer, there's a Fall, there's a Winter and they happen without fail every year. Seasons are a fact of life. They are not going anywhere anytime soon. Seasons are inevitable, inescapable, not on the table for negotiation, not up for discussion nor debate. There's no getting around them, there's no running or hiding from them, there's no skipping them, there's no calling in from them, the only way out of them is through them. The only way to get to Spring is to go through Winter. The only way to get to Fall is to go through Summer. Seasons have to happen. And going through the undesirable seasons builds a greater appreciation and anticipation for the next.

And as we reflect at our own lives, we see seasons. And just as no one wants to endure a Texas Summer or a Chicago Winter, you've found yourself having to go through seasons that were unpleasant and uncomfortable. But I just believe I'm in the presence of some veteran saints that are able to testify and proclaim they can look back and thank God for the scorching Summers and the dead Winters of life, for they brought forth the Spring blossoms and Fall harvests. Like David, you’re able to declare that it had been good that I've been afflicted that I might learn your statutes. You're able to rejoice that for every season of promotion, you've survived a season of affliction. For every season of great jubilation, you have survived a season of great tribulation. For every season of peace you've suffered a season of pain. And for every season of productivity, you've endured a season of pruning.

And it is the season of pruning in particular that I want to examine today because even though many of us can rejoice, there are some of us currently in a season where we’re questioning God, wondering why what happened to them had to happen and at the worst possible time. Why is it that just when I closed the biggest deal in the history of the company, they're now letting me go? Why is it that just when I was about exchange vows with who seemed to be the love of my life, I now find myself in a broken engagement? Why is it that just when I'm hitting my stride in ministry that God now decides show a side of Himself to me that costs me my closest colleagues and friends? Why is it at a time when I need my best friend the most, he dies? Somebody say "I got questions".

If you hang out with me this morning, we’ll find what we need in examining these two questions: What happens when God prunes me? And Why does it have to happen?

What Happens During Pruning?

So what’s happening? To define it in the natural, pruning is the practice of removing that which keeps the vine from producing its best grapes. It is an important, if not the most important part of the whole process of tending a vine. Without pruning, the vine will over-produce grapes, reducing the amount of nutrients each grape can receive from the vine. In other words, without God pruning you, the branch on Jesus the True Vine, without God removing people and things from you that are no longer or never have been profitable in developing you into the person He wants you to be, when He blesses you, because of the unnecessary attachments you have, neither you, nor the things in your life that are supposed to be attached to you will get the full benefit of the blessing. The blessing, the gift, the anointing, will be diluted. So in order to preserve the benefits of your connection to God, God says I gotta remove the dead weight. I gotta remove the BFF, I gotta remove the job, I gotta remove the distractions that will cause you to apply the greater weight of glory I’m placing on you to fruitless areas.

God Separates

Which brings us to the first thing God does when He prunes you, He separates. He removes, cuts away things, bad habits, people, places from you that are a hindrance to your growth and development in Him. It's hard to believe the job was in between you and God, that it was the source of your complacency. It's hard to believe your dependence on Mama's prayers kept you from developing your own relationship with God. It's hard to believe Bae's voice kept you from hearing God's voice. But when God wants our attention, He knows how to get you in a place where there's no else but you and Him.

God isolates to illuminate. It's hard to appreciate the potency of the Main Light when there are lesser lights in the room. When you got everyone in your ear with their vision and agenda for your life, it’s hard to see God’s perfect will for you. So He has to cause a disturbance, a disruption in the attachments for you to get on the same page with Him. When’s the last time you had quiet time with God? When’s the last time you enjoyed time alone? Might I suggest that if you can’t remember, a season of separation may be in order. And in my experience, if you have the opportunity to do it voluntarily, take advantage of the grace God afforded you and do it. In those cases it’s better for you to do it then have God step in.

So when God prunes, He separates, He removes, He cuts away. Second thing God does when He prunes is that He sanitizes.

God Sanitizes

The word "prune" in the text actually means "clean" in the Greek. It is the same Greek word from which we get the word "catharsis", a process where strong, repressed emotions, oftentimes due to tragedy or trauma are cleansed and released out of you. It can happen through crying, it can happen through expressions of anger, it can happen through laughter, but the best place for it to happen is through worship.

Worship is more than what goes on here at 10am.Worship comes from a combination of two words – Worth-ship. This means whatever decision I make in life, whatever I think, whatever I say, whatever I do is communicating to God and others just how much He is worth to me. Which also means, that even in the moments where I may be angry about what God seems to be doing in my life, as long as I’m talking to Him, being honest about my feelings in prayer, I’m still worshipping. “God I’m frustrated with You” is a form of worship. Because even though I’m frustrated with Him, He’s still worth enough to me to let Him know how I feel.

Jesus, at the end of , just finished saying some hard things that made a lot of people turn away from Him. Then He turned to His original Twelve disciple and asked, “are you leaving me also?” Peter, of all the disciples, responded “Lord, to Whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.” And that is the attitude we need when we the branches are experiencing the pain, the anger, the tears from God cutting us in this season. That even though God You’re doing and saying some hard things in my life right now, even though I don’t understand it all, even though You're showing a side of You that’s not what I grew up learning about in Sunday School, I got nowhere else to go – You’re It for me, You have the words of eternal life.

To quote Arch-bishop Veron Ashe, God does not suffer from low self-esteem. How you feel about Him at any given moment changes nothing about how He feels about Himself nor you. He’s still God, He still loves you, and He’s still concerned about you. And whatever you feel towards Him, if you keep talking and being honest with Him in prayer, He’s God enough to deal with and change your heart. He’s the only one that can cleanse your attitude and your disposition. If He can harden Pharaoh’s heart, He can soften yours.

So it is in worship, that as I worship Him every day in Spirit and in Truth, God sanitizes me during the pruning season. He cleanses my wrong thoughts and attitudes over the loss I felt when He separated me unto Himself. But lastly, and also as a result of worship, as God prunes me He strengthens me.

God Strengthens

Like I mentioned before, when God separates from me attachments that are no longer or never have been profitable, it ensures that I receive all of what I need from Him to fulfill my purpose in Him.

The sufficiency of the Vine is tied to the efficiency of the Branch. Receiving the fulness of His grace in my time of weakness is tied to my ability to be directly connected to Him, with no distractions, no interference, no filter. So He prunes me that when He supplies strength for my journey, it's undiluted. It's undefiled.

You cannot plug space heaters into surge protectors. Let me rephrase: you should not plug space heaters into surge protectors. Surge protectors are not designed to handle the high current flow needed for a space heater and can overheat or even catch fire due to the added energy flow. In other words, while a surge protector is not bad, it cannot safely carry the amount of power a space heater needs from the outlet. To avoid irreparable damage, it must be plugged right into the Source.

At moments where God is pruning me, I will have needs that will far exceed what others can give me. And if I am trying to get what I need in this season from the wrong folk connected to me, I will come up short every time. I will be angry, frustrated, desperate and if I'm not careful I can irreparably damage all involved, leaning on people that are not designed to handle the load I carry.

Resources are not inherently bad, but if you need THE Source, a resource only gets in the way. Some friends, some colleagues, some family members, your job, may be great resources, but are for sure terrible sources. So in order to get you from depending on them, God removes, He separates, He detaches because He desires that you come to Him for the strength you need. Someone say "God strengthen me."

Why Does Pruning Happen?

What happens during my pruning season? First, God separates me. He removes elements that are unprofitable to my next level in Him. Next, God sanitizes me. Through the catharsis of my worship He adjusts my attitude, heals my heart, and mends my mind. Ultimately, God strengthens me. He ensures I get what I need from Him and nowhere else.

Now that we know the what, let's examine the Why – Why does the pruning season have to happen?

First of all, the Perfect Partnership Demands It.

The Perfect Partnership Demands It

Jesus, begins walking with His disciples to Gethsemane before the Feast of the Passover. He had just told the disciples to "get up, let's go from here" in the previous verse. They had spent the evening taking part in the last supper before Jesus' crucifixion. During that time, Jesus washed the disciples' feet, He predicted His betrayal by Judas Iscariot, He even predicted Peter's denial in response to Peter's profession of devotion unto death. It was quite the last meal. And in the midst of all that Jesus was committed to encouraging, comforting, and preparing His disciples for the moment for which He was born into the world. He tells them "do not let your hearts be troubled." He tells them if they believe, they will do greater works than He. He tells them that even though He goes to Calvary, His Father will provide a Comforter that will not leave them. What a meal.

And now after that meal, on the way to Gethsemane, it would not be out of the way for Jesus to point to different things as they walked, using them as earthly props to convey eternal principles. Such method of teaching was common for Rabbis and their disciples in that day. And along that path, a vineyard would've been spotted and Jesus, seeing an opportunity to give one last revelation of Himself before His betrayal, points to a vine and declares "I am the True Vine". "I AM". This not-so-subtle claim to His divinity. We've heard this name before, have we not? When Moses in Exodus asked God "Who should I say sent me?" God replied "I AM THAT I AM".

The One Who Never Ceases to Be.

The Eternal One.

The Unchanging, Ever-Present God of the Ages.

Jesus Christ openly proclaimed this identity without hesitation and reservation, and according to John, He did it six other times before.

In He stated, "I am the Bread of Life".

In He stated, "I am the Light of the World".

In He stated, "I am the Door of the sheep".

In again He stated, "I am the Good Shepherd".

In He stated, "I am the Resurrection and the Life".

In He stated, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life".

And now in He says, "I am the True Vine".

And not just any vine – the True Vine. The Original Vine, the Master Vine. That distinction is important because in the Old Testament, Israel was referred to as a vine and every reference of this was in prophetic judgment for her failure to live up to her God's expectations. But Jesus, having revealed Himself as "I AM" - Having revealed Himself firmly and completely to be God - declares that He - the True Vine, the Original Vine, the Master Vine - can not and will not fail. He will succeed where Israel fell short. He will, with His obedience, produce fruit that will be the salvation of all the nations. And to ensure the success of the True Vine, God the Father, like a methodical, meticulous gardener, tends to you, His Son's branches. It is the Perfect, the complete Partnership.

Which means that ultimately when God prunes you, it's not about you. Pruning may happen to you, it may benefit you, but it’s ultimately not about you. It's about the Perfect Partnership God has with His Son. It's about the commitment that God Has to His Son, the Word, that it shall not return unto Him void, but it shall accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it. And as a consequence of you being connected, you are a part of that Word that must be accomplished. Therefore, pruning has to happen so that you, the branch, may continue to be the best representation of the Son's success at the cross. It has to happen so that less of you is in the way of Him being manifested in you. So that more people are drawn to Him in you than are turned off by you. Somebody tell your neighbor "you need more of Him"

So pruning has to happen, because the Perfect Partnership Demands it. But pruning also has to happen because, watch this: your Previous Performance Determines It.

Your Previous Performance Determines It

The text says in verse 2 that every branch that bears fruit, God prunes. That means to any one that has proven promise, anyone that has exhibited excellence, God says congratulations.

Your growth is a prime candidate for cutbacks. Your production has been matched with reductions. Your performance is ripe for downsizing. Hold up wait a minute God! You mean to tell me that I'm suffering because I pleased you? That my struggle is a sign of your favor? Where they do that at?

Anyone who exercises knows that there's no such thing as a comfortable workout. Once you're comfortable with a certain amount of weight, it's time to put on more weight. Once you're comfortable with a certain amount of miles ran, you run further. Once you're comfortable with your stretching, it's time for new stretches, Because once you plateau in your workout, once you stop stressing and straining your body to get to the next level of fitness, you lose your productivity. You begin to lose your gains.

God says "I like what you've done last season, and I don't want you to lose your gains. So to prevent that, I've got to introduce resistance. I've got to stretch the muscle of your faith. I've got to increase your endurance of your prayer life, because I do not want you to shrink back and lose the progress."

The Word of God says in

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

The difficulty you're experiencing is indicative that you're still in the family of God. That you are still connected to the True Vine. It is a mark that you have pleased Him, and just like any Father that's pleased with his child's performance and ability He wants to see more. He wants you to see in you what He sees in you, and it cannot be done without the resistance, without the suffering. And as much as this season in your life hurts, as much as it doesn't feel like you're favored of God, Jesus says in , "Abide in Me." Because just as much as Your Previous Performance Determined the Pruning, Your Prolific Production Depends on It.

Your Prolific Production Depends on It

The last part of verse 2 says that God prunes so that the branch may bear more fruit. For every phase of life that you experience, God wants you to produce more than you have previously. God is a God of increase. He is a God of growth. And in order for you to experience the continual increase that God desires to see in His branches, some things have to go. Bad habits – have to go. Familiar people that keep you in mediocrity – have to go. Material possessions and meaningless positions you count on as a source of your self-worth – have to go. People that love you but how they love you interferes with how God knows you need to be loved in this season – have to go. Because your success and maturity in God is greater to Him than your comfort. He has vested interest in the success of His Son the True Vine, and your version of the blessed life takes several back seats to what He desires you to be for His Son!

God is not concerned about your success apart from Jesus Christ. Everything He does in your life is to ultimately exalt Him, and if you want to experience the blessing, the benefits of God even during the hard, uncomfortable, unpleasant seasons of life, you've got to do what it takes to stay on the Vine.

If you want peace during the storm, you've got to stay on the Vine.

If you want joy in the midst of turmoil, you've got to stay on the Vine.

If you want provision when times are lean, you've got to stay on the Vine.

If you want to sail when everyone else is sinking, you've got to stay on the Vine.

If you want to see uncommon favor, you've got to stay on the Vine.

If you want to be used by God, you've got to stay on the Vine.

Because if you stay on the True Vine, whatever pain you feel as the branch when God prunes you, because you are connected to Him, He feels it too. says, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Jesus Christ the True Vine feels the pain you feel. And He will never leave you nor forsake you. If you but abide in Him, you will find all that you need.

Stay on the vine!

Stay on the vine!

Stay on the vine!