A conversation between friends…

There are few places I hear God’s voice more clearly than when I am in the garden. And I have to be honest… sometimes the lessons are painful, because, even when everything around me is so beautiful, what’s underneath is a dangerous poison when not handled correctly. How can we continue to look on these things but never really consider them? How do we rest our eyes on a flower or a sunset, or listen to the sounds of so many different birds all at once and miss that God speaks to us in the deepest, richest tones? We are letting that beloved voice fall on deaf ears and distracted minds more with every passing day, refusing to recognize or acknowledge that it is to our detriment.

Is it any wonder that Jesus often used imagery from both the garden, and the desert when he was trying to get his point across? Wandering an overgrown garden choked out by weeds, torn apart by thorns, or suffering from an absence of care and wilting from thirst and lack of nourishment is every bit as disheartening for me as those times I might find myself in the heart of the Sahara. Things can die just as easily in the garden as in the desert, sacrificed on the altar of neglect, unforgiveness, bitterness and misunderstanding.

Just how confident am I in my ability to discern good from evil? How ready am I to be the judge?

“You weren’t meant to do any of that all on your own. This was always meant to be a conversation between friends…”

Wild. Wonderful. Perfectly in process…