Recently, I was pretty annoyed with my variegated rubber tree, and my regular one for that matter. They had not appreciated wintering in my home the last two winters and now that I had a greenhouse I’d been able to move them there for a time until having them outside for the summer. But in this time, they’d decided they were going to grow real tall with leaves just on top. I did some Googling and found an answer… you gotta cut the bad boy.
So I did. Notched a few places in the long stems of both of them, unsure if it would actually work. But it did… a few months later and I am seeing some good growth out of each of those wounds on the variegated tree and, just today, I finally see some tiny nubs on the stems of the other.
James 1:2–4 says: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (ESV)
Consider it pure joy when we face trials? Challenges produce endurance and maturity. Growth does not always come from easy seasons—it often comes from the moments that stretch us, shape us, and even hurt a little.
Just like pruning, or, in this case, notching, God sometimes cuts things back in our lives not to harm us, but to make room for new life. The loss may sting, but it is also an invitation to trust, to grow, and to become something stronger and more beautiful and more full than before.
If I continue to take good care of that tree, and probably refrain from trying to winter it in the house (haha), it will continue to grow newness from the cuts, the pain, the scars. Those reddish leaves will turn more yellowish white on the outside edges, much like we do.
Soli Deo Gloria.