Some stages are easy - being 6 years old, for example. You're old enough to dress yourself and think for yourself, but young enough for naps and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Other stages are harder. I mean really, did anyone enjoy puberty?
I guess while I was growing up, I thought it would get easier. Life would be easier when I could drive. Life would be easier when I went to college. Life would be easier when I had my own house, my own job, etc. But I'm realizing how wrong that thought was.
Growing up isn't easy. In fact, I would venture to say that it's just as hard as puberty, with its own quirks and queries. There are different situations to go through, different bridges to cross, different questions to ask. Perhaps the most painful part of growing, however, is pruning. And I can tell you firsthand, pruning can hurt. A lot.
I recently joined a small group of "creative adults". This group of people is different than any other small group that I've ever been privileged to call myself a part of. In this group, we ask real questions. We share about real hurts we have. We encourage each other. We do life together. God has truly blessed my life by putting these people in it.
Last week, we were talking about Romans 11, and we got on the topic of our lives being pruned by God. I never really understood what the pruning analogy meant until a few years ago. One of my sister's friends has a rosebush in her yard, and her dad came over to trim it for her. He cut a lot off of the bush. By the time he was done, it looked like he had killed the rosebush. There was so little of the bush left - it looked dead. My sister said her friend was furious. She had this big, beautiful rosebush, and her dad killed it. The next season, though, the bush grew. By the time it bloomed, it was bigger and more beautiful than ever before.
I think sometimes that's how I feel with God. God prunes our rosebush lives, and to be honest, it hurts. Sometimes it makes me furious with Him. I want to ask Him, "God, what in the world do You think You're doing?!" I want to beg Him to stop, to say, "Lord, what are You doing? I'm dying. I can't take any more." Somehow, though, God pulls us through. And sure enough - the next season brings a bigger and more beautiful rosebush.
Chris Tomlin has a song called "Faithful" that I think says it best:
You are there in every season of my soul
You are there, You're the anchor that will hold
You are there, in the valley of the shadows
You are faithful, God
God is faithful no matter what stage of life we're going through. He's there through every season. He has never let me down...not ever. And if I'm honest, I don't think He ever will.
