The Cutting Place

by Paula Michelle Thibodeaux

 I find myself in the Cutting Place with God.  It is that place where God is spending His time pruning away those things that are not like Him in preparation for His purpose.

I have learned that the Cutting Place has different rooms.  Sometimes the room is dark and isolated.  Sometimes the room is dimly lit and filled with others who are being pruned, just like me.  Sometimes the room is bright and almost cheery; smelling like a brisk summer day.  But I know the purpose of these rooms is to begin a process that is hard, and painful; but extremely necessary. The process of cutting for the purpose of growth. It is where God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and God the Son meet with me in deep consultation to discuss my destiny.

There is one particular room in the Cutting Place that I have been to on several occasions; mostly because of my own foolish choices.  Picture a place where there is a single wooden bar-stool type chair sitting in the middle of the room and over it shines a bright spotlight.  This room has no windows, has no other furnishings and has a single doorway which serves as both the entrance and the exit.

As I take my seat on this bar-stool, instantly I find myself exposed.  Not per se from the physical sense of being without clothing, but much deeper much deeper than that.  I am exposed spiritually.  All of my ugliness, all of my sinful nature, all of my pre-conceived greatness, all of my desires are visible to the Pruner.

It is in this room where He starts to size me up and determine the best cuts to yield the most fruit.  Mind you, these things that are spiritually attached to me have been with me for a while and I have grown accustomed to having them.  I have learned to live with my fallacies.  I’m not looking forward to this process at all.  Each cut hurts and sometimes cause me to bruise and bleed; but never for very long.  All the while the Pruner is working, He reassures me that this is for my good. I cry and sometimes scream out during this process, but I am never scared because the Comforter is there with me. All the while He is cutting, He is also healing.  In retrospect it’s quite fascinating, but as a recipient, it doesn’t feel good at the time.

It seems like this process goes on for hours, days, weeks, months, years.  But it is necessary and needed; for I have been growing out of control because of the worldly influences in my life.  There are so many distractions that keep me from Him and I find myself weighted down by these branches that have sprung up all over my “Tree of Life”.  But skillfully the Master works on me.  And what does He use as a model for this pruning? The one model He gave us all, His Son of course.  Making me like Him more and more with each precision cut.  He is careful not to remove the things that are fruitful in my life, but takes great care to purge me of the unnecessary.

Finally, He is done.  He examines His handy work from all angles.  He does not leave anything that would cause me to not be fruitful.  And when He is pleased that the process is completed, He stands me up from my seat and instantly I feel a lite-ness about me.  A breeze is able to penetrate my Tree and I can once again feel the rays of the Son.  It’s amazing what a good pruning will do for the root of you.  You stand taller, you shine brighter, all because things that weighed you down have been shed.

As I begin to leave this room, He reminds me that the pruning can yield much fruit for the Kingdom as long as I water myself daily with His Word.  So I acknowledge my shortcomings, I saturate myself in His Love as He moves me from this place of cutting to a vineyard of prosperity.  All the while I know that this is the Beginning of the Best!