| “It is no disparagement to a garden to say that it will not fence and weed itself, nor prune its own fruit trees, nor roll and cut its own lawns. A garden is a good thing but that is not the sort of goodness it has. It will remain a garden, as distinct from a wilderness, only if someone does all these things to it. Its real glory is of quite a different kind. The very fact that it needs constant weeding and pruning bears witness to that glory. It teems with life. It glows with colour and smells like heaven and puts forward at every hour of a summer day beauties which man could never have created and could not even, on his own resources, have imagined.”
~CS Lewis
Lord,
You have planted me as a garden in the fertile soil of your eternity. You put into your garden the most beautiful of roses, tulips, orchids, and fruit trees. You put into your garden vast open lawns and wide open ponds teeming with life. There are many benches to sit on to ponder your greatness. Your generosity has made this more beautiful than those at Versailles. You created paths covered by grand oaks and willows on the banks of the rivers streaming through the gardens for us to walk and talk. I can see the glory of your kingdom from the sprawling fields of beauty. Lord this has been your gift to me.
Oh Lord forgive me, my gift to you. You gave me beauty and glory and I gave you sin and despair. I have grown thorn bushes instead of roses and allowed the willows to weep. I have overgrown the paths with brush that is ugly and dead. I move through the lawns restlessly while never looking up at your kingdom. I have grown great trees to block my view in hopes that I would block your view into this garden. The ponds have grown stale and the fish have all died. The benches have grown weak under the constant rain of my tears. They rot and no longer support me when I sit to think. I no longer talk with you, though I still talk plenty. The fresh water of the springs that lead into the rivers have turned to salt and the banks have been spoiled the fertile ground. The glorious fruit trees have grown no good fruit. The bad branches have taken hold and control.
Heavenly father, I have acted like a little child afraid of punishment. I have retreated into the farthest corner of the garden in hopes you wouldn’t see me. I know what I have done is evil in your eyes and it scares me to look into your eyes, but now I am done with running. I am ready to stand before you. I cannot prune myself, weed myself, or tend to the brokenness of your garden. You are the gardener and I am the garden. Father I ask that you come and do the painful task of fixing me and all of those things I have done to put blemishes on your glory. Lord, I see now that even in the farthest corner you see me and come to me because it is no distance for you. Your loving arms are never farther away than their length. I called to you and you have shown me that that you have held me.
Lord, I now call to you and you answer me. I pray for forgiveness and you give it freely. I see the folly of my past. You have shown me it is no good to simply ask for forgiveness; it is time to turn and resume walking with you in the garden. Lord, it is my fervent prayer that your glory be evident to others who see your garden. If it is to be evident, it is not the garden that is the glory, but your presence and work in the garden. The light you shine, I pray that it shine over me and cover my darkness. You know my heart, you have seen my diminishing light as I retreated from my boldness of just a year ago. Return me to that light and bring me to your boldness again. I have lost my sight by looking at the strategy of an earthly nation instead of looking at the strategy of a heavenly kingdom. God forbid that I ever misplace my focus like that again. I thank you for your eternal patience and love. Your gifts have borne me thus far and I pray you continue to give that I may go on to your kingdom in eternity.
It is in your Son, Jesus Christ, I pray these things. Amen. |
