Restore My Soul – Garden Of Your Heart
Tracy and I have decided to stay in this home rather than sell it and remodel another one. So we have decided to invest in some landscaping and since I have a little more time on my hands I’ve taken on the task. I’ve also acquired a few more house plants and at this point most are still alive.
In the front yard I recently spent a day creating a new flower garden around a freshly planted tree that I hope will grow into a large shade tree in the years to come.
There’s just something about playing in the dirt, planting something and watching it grow. I’ve discovered it takes quite a bit more time and effort that just the first day of planting. Daily watering the new starts, adding fertilizer, protecting them from the trimmer and Roscoe have been quite time consuming. But it’s worth it every time I look out over the yard and see the beauty that is on display.
Gardening has lead me to another lesson from God.
God’s message to me: I want you to walk with Me in the garden of your heart where I have taken up permanent residence.
This reminded me of a book by Wm. Paul Young called Crossroads. The book described different gardens for different people. The size of the gardens were all based on how much room each individual gave Christ in their lives. Some gardens had high walls that were built in life to keep people and Christ out and other were thriving and inviting. The gardens represented the persons’ relationship with Christ.
Looking at our own relationship with Christ as a garden we should ask ourselves, Is it tended to daily? Is it weeded? Is it blooming? Is it inviting? Is it a place you would long to be?
The same author also wrote the book called The Shack which was made into a movie. In the movie there was also a garden. It was a large garden that had become overgrown and needed tending. Weeds needed to be removed and pruning needed to take place. The weeds represented wrong attitudes and actions in the man’s life.
When the weeding and pruning had been completed the man’s tears, which were held in a bottle by God, were poured out onto the ground. The tears represented all the hurt and pain that man had experienced and when poured out on the ground it made the garden grow and blossom into the most incredible garden imaginable.
Thinking back to God’s message to me, would I invite God to walk with me in my garden? He not only wants to walk with me in this garden of life but He wants to take up permanent residency in the heart of it.
There will be weeding, pruning and tears along the way, but the heart of the matter is that He simply wants to spend time with us. To walk with us through every hard place, thorn and trimming. He knows that the end result will be better than we can think or imagine. But he also gives us incredible views along the way.
My Prayer
Father I want to invite You into the garden of my heart and experience You walking with me every day. I know there will be hard days and days that it feels overwhelming, but You know that beauty lies just around the corner and I thank You for encouraging me onward. That You for the beauty that a relationship with You creates. Help me to make room for You Lord. I Love You! In Jesus’ name, amen.
Where does my help come from?
Psalm 89:15 (The Voice)
How happy are those who have learned how to praise You;
those who journey through life by the light of Your face.