I had an opportunity to listen to my brother preach last evening. He used the most amazing illustration that was a huge encouragement to me from the most odd passage. It came from Isaiah where he was talking about the trunk of tree that had been cut down and the desolation of Israel. Chip said he had gone out to see a church member recently and the church member had cut three of his trees down to the stump and the stump was about 3 or 4 feet tall. He asked the man why. The church member said the trees had gotten too big and he had cut them back to bring forth new growth. That is exactly what God was doing with Israel. He had cut them back not because of overgrowth, but because of disobedience, but the trunk was still good and there was still a remnant of Israel that God was going to use. I thought about this and how in our lives sometimes God does a major pruning so that we too can grow again with healthy growth. I pray my heart will be receptive to what God is doing even when the pruning is so great that I have nothing but a stump left.