From Pruning to Positioning: How God Uses Endings to Shape Destiny by stella ashworth
Dear Friends in Christ,
I don’t know about you, but 2025 was one of the toughest years of my life. Yet Scripture reminds us that when God prunes and shapes us, His work is finished when He says it is ... not when we are comfortable.
2025 was a year of endings. Seasons closed. Assignments were completed. I said goodbye to Team Talk Magazine, Business Talk Magazine, and even to some people I once walked closely with.
It was a year where the Lord drew me deeper and when God takes you deeper, He opens your eyes wider. This was a year of intense refinement, where my only true goal became this: to live a life that brings honour to Him.
God challenges us not to harm us, but to grow us. He teaches us to let go so that we may move forward. When we truly trust Him, we learn that it’s not about the doors He closes, it’s about the new doors He opens in His perfect timing.
Every lesson, every tear, every moment of discomfort in 2025 has produced wisdom for which I am deeply grateful. In the end, my beloved, remember this: life is a test, a training ground, preparing us for the real world, His Kingdom, which will have no end.
I encourage you today: push forward into your new season. Value the tools, the discipline, and the lessons the Lord has entrusted to you. With Him, take it to the next level.
2026 will be whatever you allow it to be. Those who refuse to learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat them. We are only on this earth for a short time, in training to become the generals of God’s army. Never forget that.
Allow the Lord to grow you, even when His pruning hurts, even when He shuts you in with Him alone. Trust Him. Trust the process.
As I look back on the lessons of 2025, I see more clearly than ever how deeply God loves me. I have learned to look beyond the noise, beyond the propaganda of this world and church, and beyond the things that are not of God.
Discernment is not always easy, but hear this: when something is of God, you will know. And when you find yourself constantly fighting battles that pull you further away from Him, wake up. You are heading in the wrong direction.
In 2026, may we understand the value of doing not just some things, but all things, in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Yes, 2025 made me stronger, wiser, and more determined than ever to follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly.
To God be the Glory.
“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.” John 15:2
“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
Written by Stella Ashworth - Bay Talk