It was quiet and still one morning as I took my morning walk. A thick blanket of fog covered the ground. There wasn’t so much as a gentle breeze stirring. I heard a noise in a nearby tree. An old dead limb crashed through the branches of the tree and fell to the ground. I mused at the fact that the branch fell in the quiet stillness. It didn’t fall because of stormy weather or gusty winds. It fell, seemingly unprovoked. I guess I thought the only way limbs fall from trees is through some type of tumultuous event. But, now I know … it can even happen in the stillest of moments.
Now, I’ve often thought that God does most of His “surgery” on us during the trials of our lives (“the storms of life,” if you will) … removing the dead weight off us so we can run our race unhindered … pruning off lifeless limbs by means of tribulations and difficulties. But as I listened to that dead limb fall that morning in the stillness, I was reminded of one of my favorite verses in the Bible … Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.”
Here’s the prayer I prayed that morning in response to this revelation:
“Lord, knock the ‘junk’ off of me. Knock the old, dead limbs of me. They don’t produce fruit anymore. They don’t have green leaves anymore. They hang on to me, pretending to have life, but they don’t. Knock them off of me so I can grow new limbs that produce life. Do it in the quiet stillness. I know I don’t always have to learn and grow through difficulties and ‘storms.’ Do a work in me during this quiet and still moment as I submit myself to your pruning process. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”
