God’s Garden
“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed…. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…” Genesis 2:8, 3:8
Just for a moment, try to imagine a garden that God would plant. The Word tells us that there were herbs, seeds, trees, fruit, and animals. It mentions four rivers, birds, fields, and mist. There was gold and onyx.
It was a dwelling place for man and woman. It was specially created to sustain and provide, nourish and bless. Nothing was lacking. Nothing more was needed. God didnʼt forget a thing.
He gives us places of refreshing today, too, doesn’t He? Places to retreat, like green gardens in the wilderness. Waterfalls, gentle streams, bubbling brooks, lakes, ponds, and fountains. (Have you noticed that “water” is always associated with “refreshing”?) Cooling shade trees, silently swimming ducks or geese, fish rippling the waters just below the surface.
Perhaps a mountain retreat with tall, sighing pines is more to your liking. Or country meadows with cows quietly munching the grasses. Or snow-covered peaks that speak of grandeur and majesty. Or the oceanʼs unceasing waves that come and go, with orange and purple sunsets on the horizon.
Our good God has given us so many places of refreshing. This is His gift, an oasis of calm and cool when our lives are busy, or complicated, or painful, or scary.
Have you found that His Presence is just such an oasis in the desert? To know Godʼs Presence is to be refreshed. We are invited to a time of quiet and solitude, contemplation and meditation, with Him alone. To “hide in Him” is to find a place to think and pray, to be renewed.
Do you have a place of retreat? Maybe it is a physical place you go to that you can call your own. I know a lady whose husband built her a little gazebo with a bench way out in the back corner of the yard. Or perhaps the shower is the only place you can get away from everything else. Or maybe it is not a place, but a time: “When I am… raking leaves; just waking up in the morning; driving to work.”
I urge you to find a place or a time where you and the Lord can be alone. He has surely provided it, for He longs to be with you.
Iʼd love to hear your place of refreshing. What or where is “Godʼs garden” in your life? Leave a comment!
Lord, may I long more and more for Your Presence, in that quiet place or time where I am alone with You. Show me those times of refreshing that You have prepared for me, and may I enter in fully expecting to meet You there. In Jesusʼ Name, Amen.
Thank you for this.
I get up very early and sneak down to my chair for some quiet time to have coffee with Jesus before I start my day. I love this time of refreshing and setting the course for the day ahead.
❤️
Before I get out of bed I spend time (sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes) talking with our Father. Then directly after, with my cup of coffee, I read this daily devotion or some other form of His word 💝
I have a corner in my home where I sit first thing in the morning with my two Devotionals that I have been reading and writing in since the year 2000. I always look up the referenced Scriptures in each and make notes in my Bible of the date, along with notes in the Devotional of something memorable about the day before. It’s always quiet, not a television, text message or anything else to distract me. Sometimes my pup comes and sits near me during this special time. Again, later in the afternoon, my phone alarm reminds me that it’s a daily set time to pray for “loved ones”; family, friends, neighbors, and, of course, whatever God puts on my heart. These names have been written with their birth dates, and as I work my way through the pages, I will make notes of specific prayers that are needed and/or answered and then ‘highlight them’. I might add, that sometimes, the alarm goes off, and I may be in a place and/or the middle of something that I cannot break from, so just a ‘quick prayer for loved ones’ is given. God knows their needs.
It all sounds so structured, but it is the most uplifting, refreshing time of the day and no matter what happens, I may be better equipped to deal with it knowing that God is in control.
My e-mail devotionals are sometimes read when I cannot sleep…..which brings comfort and peace to my mind. I especially love LLC’s.
God Bless you all.