Fullness of Joys

"You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in Your presence..." Psalm 16:11

It's easy for me to speak of the joy of the Lord. Ever since I was young, I would pray, "Lord, treat me gently", and He has for the most part. One day I was before the Blessed Sacrament during a singles' retreat in our community. God gave me a vision, my first and only one. He showed me a beautiful garden and Jesus and I were walking on the path. He said, "I am the gardener here. I take care of all these plants. I prune each and every one of them." 

"I will show you a plant I do not prune," He continued gently, and He took me to a decaying, ugly, dying stump of a tree. He was in effect telling me that He had to prune me, He could not treat me gently all the time. In order to bloom, Jesus had to cut off what was not pleasing to Him.

 

Sometimes we do not understand what God allows in our life. Sometimes it seems just too hard. Some of our suppliers in our family business have kidney disease and they have so much to deal with. They always needs dialysis and sometimes the doctors have to surgically create an access to remove and return their blood during hemodialysis. They undergo a lot of pruning regularly. I see them and the families that care for them as gorgeous, magnificent plants in Jesus' garden. The path to life to fullness of joys in Jesus' presence requires that we see the eternal invisible with the eyes of faith. 

Lord, help us to see with Your eyes. Your pruning brings life for it cuts off the dead places in us, and allows for new growth.