This Week's Devo

Rooted for This Moment: Pruned for a Purpose
Rooted Deeper Than Routine

They say pruning is healthy and only makes you stronger, but the infamous they conveniently leave out the truth that pruning is painful. 

2025 was a season of struggle for my family. We experienced different levels of loss, disappointment, delayed promises and strain in ways that challenged us deeply.  We found ourselves facing moments in which we felt exposed, weak, and unsure of what was next. As many often do when facing these moments, we questioned what God was doing. 

Had we done something wrong?

Had we missed the mark somehow in what He had called us to do? 

Were we being punished for something?

But each question only brought greater conviction that we were living in obedience and following His direction. Yet, the struggles remained. 

In times like these, it’s easy to sit in the frustration of “why”. To obsess over the decisions made and where things went wrong to land us in the middle of the strain. But sitting in this space of questioning rarely brings the answers we seek nor provides the direction we need. 

My family had a choice to make. And when I say family, I mean every single one of us: my husband, myself, and each of our children. 

The choice: would we sit in the frustration of why, or would we cling ever more closely to the God who had led us there, trusting that His plan was still good?

We chose to cling, white-knuckled at times, to the faithfulness of the God who determines our purpose and our path. And as we clung to Him more tightly, we were forced to confront where our nourishment was truly coming from. 

It’s so easy to fall into the nourishment of routine, control, and the pace we set for ourselves. The familiarity of full schedules, forward movement, and seasons of plenty become the sustenance we rely on to just keep going. 

It makes me think of Dory—the wide-eyed, lovable blue fish with the attention span of a goldfish, who confidently sings “just keep swimming…” while forgetting why she started in the first place.

We step into the calling that God leads us in and we “just keep swimming,” rarely stopping to enjoy the journey and often forgetting why we started in the first place. What we don’t realize is that the comfort of consistency often blinds us to beautiful moments our Creator has planted along our path. Moments that will draw us to His heart, remind us of His power, and saturate us in His presence. 

As my family leaned into desperate trust, the Lord began to reveal our reliance on the rhythms we had fallen into. Though each beat of our rhythmic obedience was focused on building ministry minded things, we had fallen into the rhythm of rooted routine.

Just keep swimming…

We were rooted in the vine, but we weren’t slowing down long enough to enjoy its nourishment. 

Looking back, I can see that 2025 wasn’t a year of punishment—it was a year of pruning.

It was (and still is) a season to slow the racing rhythms of just staying connected to the Life-Giver, and instead truly abide.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. —John 15:4-5

Abiding is not a one-time connection—it’s ongoing, daily dependence. It implies staying close, staying aware, and staying dependent—something that begins to diminish when we just keep swimming. We may continue with our daily prayer time, bible reading, and ministry service. We know that without our connection to Him we are dry and our striving is empty. We may even be seeing fruit as a result of our connection and still miss the saturating presence that abiding implies. 

This steady infusion of His presence requires stillness—space to soak in nourishment that goes beyond fueling our energy and resolve, and instead overflows from deep within our souls, forming not just spiritual health, but spiritual readiness. 

Because God has not placed us in this moment by accident. The pruning, the slowing, the invitation to abide more deeply—all of it is preparation. If we are going to walk faithfully in what God has called us to carry in this season, our roots must go deeper than routine. 

Pruning exposes the root system. It reveals what has been holding us steady—and what has merely been holding us busy. And as God began to slow our pace and deepened our dependence, it became clear that this wasn’t just about personal renewal. It was about being rooted deeply enough for the season we’re standing in now. 

Scripture gives us a clear picture of what this kind of rooted readiness looks like—one that moves us from merely connecting with Christ to being firmly established in Him.

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 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.
—Colossians 2:6-7

We do not just begin in Christ, we continue in Him. His intention is for us to be rooted, built up, strengthened, and overflowing. It is this depth that sustains us when pruning comes. 

Though pruning can be painful, confusing, and often feel unnecessary at the time, its very existence proves the goodness of our God and the wealth that flows from abiding. It slows down the rhythm to ensure depth over drivenness—roots before results.

God has placed you in this moment intentionally and the fruit He desires from it requires roots deep enough to hold it. 

For my family, this moment of intentional placement is unlike any I had ever imagined for us. God has called us to do things that are hard, challenging, and require steadfast faith. Like building an international business that provides unique opportunities to share the gospel, forging a state-wide policy organization to bring faith boldly back to the public square, homeschooling our children to ensure an education that challenges and grows them as individuals and as believers, and ministry roles that constantly have us thinking outside the box. 

Our pruning season brought us back to the very real truth of abiding. We learned that it’s ok to keep swimming, but that we must stop to soak along the way. Our abiding has moved us beyond just reading His word, to truly receiving it. From prayers that are not just spoken, but lingered in. Our pruning forced us to trade the rhythm of routine for unhurried presence, and because of it, we now live in daily awareness of the beautiful moments the Creator longs to use to draw us closer to His heart. 

We’ve learned that:

Pruning isn’t punishment—it’s preparation.

Slowing isn’t failure—it’s an invitation.

Abiding isn’t optional—it’s essential.

Maybe you’re in a pruning season too—the temptation to sit in the frustration of “why” is lingering and discouraging. You may not yet understand the pruning. You may feel exposed or unsure. But pruning doesn’t mean that you are off course. And you don’t have to have all the answers before you can abide.

Keeping your forward motion isn’t wrong, but autopilot movement draws from habit, while anchored obedience draws from Him. The goal isn’t to stop swimming, but to intentionally take the time to soak as we swim with awareness.

Where have you been drawing your nourishment from? 

Have you been surviving on the rhythm of routine? 

Perhaps it’s time to consider trading rhythmic surviving for the abundant thriving that comes from simply abiding.