That You May Bring Forth Fruit

Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people?  Perhaps you have lived your life to the best of your ability and you've been confronted with something difficult and unexpected.  Have you ever wondered why?  Why would God let something bad happen to you when you've done nothing but good?

There is an answer. 

I was reading in John today when I came across this scripture verse: "2 Every ^abranch in me that beareth not ^bfruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he ^cpurgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." John 15:2  What does that mean?  I looked up the footnotes for "purgeth" and it said how it means "purifies" or "tests". 

Now, I don't understand much about gardening, but I do remember watching my mother cut back her rose bushes until they were little stubs.  "Why are you doing that?" I asked.  From my child eyes it appeared she was killing the plant.  She then explained to me that it would help the rose bush have more roses.  I still didn't understand, but I trusted her judgment.  Later in the summer we would have a rose bush full of beautiful roses. 

It appears that this concept is also true with us, as children of the Almighty God.  We are good, but we have the potential to become better.  Because God wants us to grow and be fruitful, he prunes us.  He cuts us back.  He puts us through hard trials so that we can bring forth more. 

It's painful.  It's hard.  Luckily Christ has already said, "Blessed are ye that weep" (Luke 6:21) so I don't have to feel bad about filling up a waste basket with used tissues when things get rough.  But the wonderful thing is that there are great blessings that come because of difficult trials.  It takes time, but the blessings will come.