In the Garden of His Love...

              What if God doesn’t want our excellence? 


            What if He wants our humility so He can give us His excellence?


“God’s excellence is always in His grace and only received through trust, which is the expression of humility.” 


“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

Throughout all our years, God plants different people in the gardens of our lives…some plant, some water, some turn soil, some offer tools to help cultivate growth…and some, simply stand by our side. Sometimes, the Master gardener walks with me (Mo) and helps me to see all the beauty, creativity and new growth. Other days, we just sit…side by side on a beautiful wooden bench, in silence. We don’t say much…but it is so comforting, just being together, knowing He is there. He loves me…and He has always been such a willing Master Gardener. 


He cares so much for me, personally, and the many other gardens whose gates are connected to mine…that He tends to it…daily. He and I discover new things together…things He’s always seen…but hasn’t yet revealed.

  As the root systems grow deeper in the soil, I learn to trust His love…and He surrounds me with plants more mature than I. Those whose love won’t run away when I wilt and fail…when I forget I am a child of the Holy Seed. 


They remind me Whom is the Gardener…and Who knew me before the creation of earth and sea…Who was and is…and is to come.

The love of the Gardener runs so deep that even the gnarly  weeds and underground roots don’t scare Him away. His loving hand sinks into the earth, pulling back the soil, exposing the most vulnerable parts of my soul. The plants I don’t want in my garden, but yet…I’m not sure how to make them go away. Some have prickers, some send underground roots, some breakthrough where beauty and new growth have begun. He knows my shovels and tools can’t quite dig them out. 


Like a child, He pulls me on His lap. He shows me His hand, gently pulling back the soil, exposing some areas of my garden to His light…His love. Childhood, memories, choices, revelations “I don’t like all of what I see Father, can you take it out of the garden? Now? Can you erase it?” With His holy arms around me, He whispers in my ear, “We don’t have to do that right now. As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than yours. I am the God who sees…I see all of you and I love you. My love will heal those holes and weeds in the garden as you bring them into My light, trust me.”      
                                                                                                     Monique

  

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