Pruning a Shape

I was pruning a hedge recently and as I was doing it I realised that when you are pruning a hedge you are not cutting to the shape it is but rather the shape it will be.  Where it is growing outside of the desired shape you cut it off.  Where it has not yet filled out into the shape you are looking for you allow it to continue to grow.  You are imagining a shape with your mind's eye and allowing your cutters to form that shape. 

How much like life is this? God cuts us to the shape that he sees in his mind's eye.  He allows us to grow where we need to fill out and prunes off those bits that are outside of his desired shape. 

The other point in this is that we often don't understand why we are going through stuff or why we are having this issue pruned out of our lives.  On the other side we don't understand why god does not prune some one else more harshly than it appears!  Well that is because in his minds eye he knows the shape that he wants.

So grow out into the space left for you, and be available for God to prune off where you have out grown the shape of his planning.