“I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.” John 15:1 NIV
Having worked as a professional gardener and tree surgeon for most of my career, this verse reminds me that the first place that God created for Adam and Eve to live was a garden. The Bible even tells us that God planted it for them! I think of that garden sometimes when I sing the hymn, “In the Garden” as it was where God came down in the cool of the day to walk and talk with His children. However: there are two other even more important gardens in scripture. The second garden we find God in is the Garden of Gethsemane. There Jesus prayed, “If it be possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will but Yours be done.” There the awful price of our salvation was weighed in the balance and Jesus promised to pay it in full. Yet, there is still a third garden we read of that holds the highest meaning of all. That is the garden, where the tomb of Christ was located. There Mary came to weep, and there Jesus met her, and the walking and talking with Him that day was truly sweeter than any song the birds could sing. I do hope you will be blessed by this rendition of my favorite hymn, “In the Garden,” sung yesterday at our meeting at Discovery Villages. Have a blessed day and I hope that you will take some time to walk and talk with Jesus in all three of these gardens this week.
Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:32 ESV
Have you ever wondered if your prayers are making it past the ceiling or if God can hear you over the clamor of billions of other folks praying at the same time? Mary’s prayer gives me hope. It wasn’t long, it wasn’t eloquent, in fact, it wasn’t even original.! These were the exact words her sister Martha had used just a few minutes before. But Jesus did something many of us fail to do in a moment of someone else’s time of crisis or grief: He listened. He didn’t interrupt, correct or give advice. Jesus simply gave Mary space to voice her struggle with the terrible question of why.
After taking time to listen, Jesus did something encapsulated in the shortest verse of the Bible: He wept. His tears more than His words, brought healing comfort to Mary and her friends. Lazarus lay in the grave, and though Jesus knew what was going to happen next, no one else did. In our lives it is the same. We see, as Paul says, “through a glass darkly” Our understanding of the future is often clouded by the sorrows or struggles we are drowning in. And yet, our Jesus, who is the Resurrection and the Life, kneels down next to us, and weeps. Now, Jesus doesn’t do this because He doesn’t know what to do. He knows exactly what we need and what His plans are, but He takes time for us to look up to Him and then He begins to show us the way out.
“Where have you laid him?” Jesus asks, and they lead Him to the tomb. Only then, just outside the tomb, where their brother lay wrapped in graveclothes on a cold stone slab, Jesus takes command. “Take away the stone.”
“But Lord,” Martha informs him. He has been dead four days and (here I love the King James) “He stinketh!” Did you know that Jesus already knows how bad things smell in our lives. The death of our hopes and dreams have lain in the grave so long that they smell to high Heaven. But Jesus isn’t concerned about how bad our problems smell, He is concerned now about our obedience and faith. In the words of the hymn, this is the moment to “Trust and Obey>” Yes, Jesus listens, and yes, He weeps with us, but there also comes a time when we must obey, if we are to see the glory of God. What are you facing this morning? Is there a grief, a broken relationship, sickness or disability that has brought life to a standstill. Jesus is here, right now, and He will take time to listen, He will even take time to weep, and then as you trust Him, He will show you the next step to take. What a patient, compassionate, and mighty Savior we serve. I do hope you will enjoy this short message that was given yesterday at Life Care Center. Have a blessed day everyone!
I can’t explain how the hummingbird flies Nor why in the summer an ancient tree dies Or when at the dawn as I get out of bed Why deer creep to thickets to lie down instead
My life’s like a puzzle still missing a part` With questions of mysteries that stir in my heart When the voices of worries are filling my ear Above all their clamoring I can still hear His quiet voice that is calling me come And the sound of His footsteps leading me home
He comes and stands and He knocks at my door And offers to enter to heal and restore And when I ask Him why He gives such grace He points to the Cross where His love took my place
In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? John 14:2 ESV
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