Years ago, I walked away from the Lord for a while. 

Angry from a loss, I blamed God.  Because if he really loved me, he would let me have that thing.  My words for him?  I’m done with you.

Surely an exit from God would show him that I knew better.

But my departure from God didn’t teach him anything.  Instead, I was the one to learn a powerful lesson.

I learned that life apart from him is lonely and hopeless.  And not only that, I learned that despite what I might like to think, I’m not in control. 

More than that, I don’t want to be in control. 

Because, left to my own devices, my life will eventually fall off the rails. 

Not only do I NOT know my future, like he does, I am also not equipped to fight my battles like he can. 

Trying to fight a war single-handedly is exhausting.

I finally realized this.

White flag waving, new outlook, humble surrender.  OK Lord, I give up. 

You can have it, God… all of it.

There is truth in John 15:4. We are told that we must stay close to the Father, or as John puts it, remain in him. 

We are not to break away and veer off in our own determined direction.

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

I am the branch.  He is the vine. 

And his desire for me (and for you) is that we thrive.

This scripture is an invitation.

We are invited to cling to him, the giver of knowledge and peace.  To hold tightly to the one who guides and directs, grows, and sometimes prunes us for our own good.

But this scripture is also a warning.

Because we know what happens to a branch that is cut from a tree.  It will eventually dry up and wither, no matter how green the branch first appears.

He doesn’t want that for us either. 

This is why John 15:5 tell us that apart from Him, we can do nothing. 

Thus, the call to become a vine-clinger. 

For those of you who make that choice, I have good news. 

Remain on the vine, and your faith will be unstoppable.

This is the promise of John 15:5:

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Note that it doesn’t just say you will bear fruit. 

It says you will bear MUCH fruit. 

And not just one kind. 

His is a life-giving, lovely vine that produces many different kinds of fruit – fruit that can steady your soul, fruit that can grow your faith, and fruit that can help you serve others.

Galatians 5:22-23 has a list:

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

This is what a vine-clinger is in for.  Life-giving fruit that brings hope, joy, and help for daily living.

Have you, like me, ever pulled away from the vine in seasons of anger toward God?  If you have found yourself there, I pray that you have recognized it is time to invite him back in.

Because you will never find what you are really looking for apart from him.

Remember – apart from HIM, we can do nothing.

If that is not your current season, then praise God, because I know that struggle well. 

So then, there is something else I’d like you to ponder.

I want to ask you a question, and I hope you will give this some thought.

My question is this. 

Is there a place in your life where you may have either intentionally or unintentionally severed yourself from the life-giving vine? 

Perhaps in one particular area?

I ask this, because I have been guilty of this also.

Often there are places in our lives that we haven’t yet given over. Things we are holding close and not inviting God into. 

Areas where we have cut ourselves off from the vine. 

Sometimes we are aware of it, and sometimes we aren’t.

This may appear in the form of a thought pattern, a habit, or an action we repeatedly take.

Sometimes we find ourselves in this place because of hurt or unresolved issues. 

We may struggle to believe that God could or would make a difference if we laid down this particular thing. 

We might wonder if he even cares about something that really matters to us, so we snip that little piece of the vine and hold it close instead.

Maybe we prefer to maintain control, rather than offer it up, so out come the shears again.

We may have unintentionally put ourselves in this place through being unaware.  This can occur when we love God, but we don’t really seek him fully in every area of our lives.

Or sometimes we struggle with an area of sin that we aren’t quite ready to give up, and the truth is that, quite frankly, God is not welcome in that one thing.

I have done my fair share of snipping the vine through various seasons of my walk.  In many different ways.

But God has dealt patiently with me in these things, showing me areas that have needed surrender.  

Because he is a merciful God.

At times I have built walls designed to keep God or others out, and I have had to listen when he asks me to knock them down.  Sometimes that has been very, very difficult.

For a long time, I hid from Jesus. 

Not because I wanted to blatantly sin, but because, even though I loved God, inviting Jesus into my daily felt just a little too vulnerable. 

I would read my Bible on occasion, I would sometimes have a little quiet time.  I would pray.  I would sing in church and teach my kids about God, but way deep down I still had one hand on those shears.  

Not quite sure I wanted to get close enough to really let him see all of me.

But little by little, I learned to open up to him.  This didn’t happen overnight. 

I did eventually learn how to fully surrender to him through a daily laying down of my own desires and a seeking of his.

I finally realized that all my hiding was for naught because he knew it all anyway.

And his way of handling things always turned out better than mine.

If you have struggled like I have, it may be time to lay that thing down at his feet. 

To live out Colossians 2:7:

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Friend, if you have an area that you have severed from the vine, now is the time to reattach. 

To put down the shears and walk away from them.

First, acknowledge it.  Next, confess it.  Then, surrender it. 

Do this in faith and with a belief that if you are willing to reattach to the vine, he will help you conquer, grow, and produce lovely, flourishing fruit.

Seek the Father in prayer, trust him to help you take the next step.

And utter those beautiful words, “You can have it, God… all of it.”