Cutting Off the Dead Ends

Written By Rebecca Johnson

Two days ago, I bought myself some flowers. It had been a long week, and I thought it would be nice to treat myself. It was late when I got home, and honestly, I was too tired to do much. So instead of cutting the ends off the stems like you’re supposed to, I just put the flowers straight into the vase with the water and the little flower food mix — thinking, it’ll be fine.

Well, the next morning, I noticed that one of the flowers was drooping. What’s crazy is that I had actually bought the bouquet because of that particular flower. It was beautiful — soft, bright, and full of life. But now it hung low, its stem bent, almost lifeless. I picked it up and could feel where it had gone limp.

Then I remembered — I never cut off the ends.

So I took the flower out, trimmed the stem, and placed it back into the water. A few hours later, I noticed a change. The flower wasn’t completely upright yet, but it wasn’t drooping anymore either. It still had its bend, but it was like life was slowly returning.

By the next day, that same flower had completely revived. The bend where it once drooped was strong again, and its head stood tall and proud. I couldn’t believe it. I’m not exactly a green-thumb type of person, so seeing this flower come back to life filled me with joy.

And then it hit me — the only reason it came back to life was because I had cut off the dead ends.

Sometimes, we’re like that flower. We look fine on the outside, but deep down, something feels off. We’re drooping, struggling to hold ourselves up — not because we’re broken, but because we’re still holding on to things that need to be cut off.

Maybe it’s old habits, old hurts, old mindsets — things that block the flow of what God is trying to pour into us. And until we allow Him to do some pruning, to cut away those dead ends, we won’t fully come alive again.

John 15:2 says, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

Sometimes healing looks like letting God cut away what no longer serves us — even when it hurts. Because in His hands, what feels like loss is actually the beginning of new life.

So today, maybe it’s time to let God do some trimming.
Because just like that flower, there’s still life in you — waiting to rise again.