God and Garden
Have you noticed that in a garden it is easier to experience God than nearly anywhere else? Praying while sitting in or working in a garden is a direct connection to our Creator. Why is that? Because it’s a return to the Garden of Paradise, the Garden of Eden. The close relationship that God intended to have with all of his human creations was first brought into reality here. He wants to restore for us the closeness that our first parents, Adam and Eve, lost.
Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so…. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:11-13 NIV)
One of my favorite chores is mowing the lawn. It’s good therapy. In the summertime, it gives me a weekly opportunity to turn something scraggly and problematic into a smooth expanse of beautiful green. As I’m riding the mower, my inner child remembers playing in the expansive, green yard of my grandfather’s childhood home. It’s a wonderful memory. It instantly restores the feeling of being accepted and free to be myself.
When my parents came to live with Ralph and me, my dad sometimes commented on how much I enjoyed mowing the lawn. He said that it made him reminisce about how much he used to enjoy mowing. And then he always added: “I liked it so much that I never let anyone else do it.”
Why did he like it that much?
During my teen years, he grew a vegetable garden in the side yard. It became one of his hobbies. I didn’t pay much attention to it and he didn’t invite me to. Only after I bought my first house did I discover the joy of planting seeds, impatiently waiting for them to sprout, and finally delighting over them as they turned into something on my dinner plate with a better flavor than anything I bought in a store.
I was participating in God’s miracle of creation as well as the generosity of his abundance. My zucchinis grew huge and multiplied so much that I gave them away and still had too many!
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” (Genesis 1:29 NIV)
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13:16 ESV)
Blaise’s Story
Blaise from Uganda tells the story of how Abba-Father used his garden to help someone realize his great love for her:
Recently, after planting in one of my gardens of 10 acres, I looked around and saw a lady. I didn’t know her history, but I invited her to have the other 10 acres of land for planting beans. I wanted her to plant beans because this would improve the nitrogen in the soil, which would benefit my fruits. It was a 50-50 deal, but to her it meant a lot more. She wondered how a stranger could give her all that land.
Some of the people who found out about it were not happy. I wondered why. Then one day she came to thank me. She said that she never expected anyone on Earth to love her and give her such a generous offer. She explained that she had been rejected by her husband 20 years ago and the whole community turned against her. Now she saw a miracle in her life: God had brought someone to show her his love. She told me that my offer had given her peace and joy simply because she felt God’s love. She felt that he treated her special, choosing her to have that free land instead of anyone else in her village.
Praise God! You don’t know how high you are raising up a soul when you share generously. You don’t know how much you will show God’s loving closeness to someone.
As we can see from Blaise’s story, a garden can produce not just plants but miracles too. The woman he helped received the miracle of hearing God choose her above all others.
To be continued…
The Father’s Heart
A do-it-yourself guide to heal your father wounds through the love of Father God:
