Love Song to the Gardener...

I'd rather be in the Garden of the Lord
Than in the palace of a king...

 

 

 

He carried me so tenderly and covered me over with rich dark soil,

When I was just a tiny seed.

He planted me deep in the garden surrounded by rocks and thistles

That mocked my every need

Or, at least, that’s what I believed…

I heard His footsteps in the garden growing fainter and fainter.

He was leaving me all alone –

He didn’t stop.

He didn’t care what happened to me.

Or, at least that’s what I believed…

The only life I saw were ugly, broken weeds

Sprouting all around me.

No beauty.

No joy.

No life was in the air around me.

Or, at least, that’s what I believed…

Endlessly, it rained and rained.

I never saw the sunshine.

I never saw a flower.

I called to Him to save me.

But, against this cruelty,

He had no power.

Or, at least, that’s what I believed.

I wept at least as many tears

As raindrops fell upon my fears.

All for what? I didn’t know.

I decided I should just let go.

What was the use in holding on?

He must not love me, or so it seemed.

Or, at least, that’s what I believed.

Strangers came and stomped on me.

They mocked and laughed and jeered at me.

Down in the heart of my tiny seed,

They broke me down and made me bleed.

Left alone to face this mess,

I hated Him, I must confess.

Or, at least, that’s what I believed.

But, He who loved me had buried me deep,

 

Deep

     down

          deep,

He had buried me,

In the rich dark soil of His love.

He had promised He would come for me.

When all seemed dark and dry and dead,

He was still strolling through the flower beds

Or, at least, that’s what I came to see…

I, no longer hoping, no longer strong,

I heard Him walking on the dawn.

He lifted my head to see His face,

He smiled His Glory all over the place.

I never ever doubted His love for me...

Or, at least, that’s what I came to see!

The storms brought the rain that I needed to grow.

The weeds made me fight for the chance to have life.

The stones and the rocks made me sink in the mud,

Where the rich, velvet soil caressed me with love.

He used it all to shape me and form me to be,

A tiny reflection of the One who made me.

I don’t know the answer to all of the whys.

I only know darkness is broken by Light.

I learned to be gentle toward those who are broken,

To reach out in tenderness for those who are lost.

To leave it to Him what I don’t understand.

To trust Him who holds me in the palm of His hand.

To hold on to the One who holds on to me.

Or, at least, that’s what I’ve come to believe…

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“Then He who sat on the throne said,

Behold, I make all things new…”

   Revelation 21:5  NKJV

 

More Precious Than Diamonds...

"For I know Whom I have believed
and am persuaded that He is able
to keep that which I have entrusted to Him
until that Day..."
2 Timothy 1:12   NKJV

Is there anything in your life for which you would lay down your life? There are few things in life that most of us would count that precious. But, in my life there are at least five. More precious than diamonds, the Lord has entrusted to me, from His storehouse of treasures, five irreplaceable jewels. Make no mistake about it, I am jealous for them, as He, Himself, is. They are my grandchildren. I am jealous for them, indeed. I have planted the banner of the Kingdom of Christ over them. Of all that I hold dear in life, nothing matters to me more.

Of the many prayers I have prayed in my lifetime, there are some prayers I never stop praying. They are for my grandchildren.  As I look around the world we live in, to be honest, I fear for them.  More and more, the world seems to be hurtling headlong toward self-destruction. 

The boundaries that were traditionally taught and respected in our society have been ripped to shreds and thrown out like yesterday's garbage. There are no boundaries. Do whatever you like. Who can say there's anything wrong with it? The idea that God is the One Who defines the boundaries and the One Who will hold us accountable is considered obsolete – laughable in our schools and news media.

The list goes on and on. Atheism is now extolled. Only fools believe in a Supreme Being. As a parent and grandparent, I watch with horror as the evidence of moral decay slithers across the T.V. screen nightly: murder on a grand scale, dubbed “terrorism”; sexual exploitation of innocent women and children in sex slave trade; killing of the innocent unborn, justified as a “woman's right”, mass re-location and persecution of Christians for their faith; economic collapse of the world markets, including our own; “wars and rumors of wars” abound.

What are we to make of the frightening signs of moral decay and collapse that are all around us? I have had my share of panic attacks considering the horrors of the “godless” world my grandchildren stand to inherit. But, recently, the Lord calmed my fearful heart with a vision of what He sees for my grandchildren. He asked me many questions, and, like Job, I was humbled to acknowledge, I am not God.  He is.  Here is some of what I recall from my midnight meeting with the Lord.

“What makes you think that I have left them on their own to cope with all of this? Are college dormitories and school classrooms beyond my reach? Do you really think there is any place where My Spirit is unable to go? Because they have posted a “no prayer allowed sign”, do you think I obey that? I move on the hearts of men, women and children, whenever I please, wherever I please. I AM the Creator, not the creature – I AM ABLE to overcome what needs to be overcome.”

“Do you think when they falter in their faith, I won't be there to bring them through? Do you think I never anticipated the world they would grow up in? Are you imagining that I am surprised by all of this? I have planned everything for them. I have fashioned them for My glory. There is nothing I don't know about in their future. Did you imagine that I wouldn't be there because you won't?”

“If I call them to suffer for Me, would you take that from them? You do not know the crown of glory I have planned for them to wear. Step back, let go and release them to me. Before and after they belong to you, they belong to Me.”

“You are not God in their lives. I AM. They will face trials you  know nothing about. Stand as the watchman on the wall. Pray. While the enemy encamps around them, they stand in the need of prayer. Carry them to me in prayer. Whatever it takes to get to Me, do it. Lower them to Me through the roof. And stand and see the salvation of the Lord...”

For my grandchildren and yours. Let us pray...