My daughter and I watched the movie, "The Secret Garden" which is based on the children's classic book of the same title. We like it so much that we have both watched it three times now. At the end, Mary, the main character says, "The whole world is like a garden."
Well, some parts of the world is really like a jungle I would say. It needs a lot of overhaul and tending to turn those places into a real garden. But then again, indeed, if you think of the world as a real garden, you would do that.
I opened my prayer book today, which also serves as my notebook for everything - from my shopping list to my prayer list - and I realized that these people I am praying for are literally spread all over the world. I promise to pray for and yet, sometimes, I do neglect praying for them. If I think of each one of them as "shoots" sprouting out of my world-wide garden, one day, if I work diligently enough, my garden would be green and beautiful, a veritable garden. And that brings me also to the most basic form of nurturing and watering my garden - reflection, the word of God, and just conversing with Him. It does help to pray aloud, but sometimes, thought-to-thought communication is just as precious. And then there's the "praying in the spirit" realm which is praying in tongues, which in itself is of great value because we allow the Holy Spirit to pray in our behalf when we are lost for words on how to pray for a situation. Sometimes, I just want to be quiet in the presence of the Lord, during my Quiet Time. And in that time and place of quiet I do believe I am nurturing, watering and caring for my garden. Our communion with God every morning is like partaking of fresh manna from Heaven. It is a daily thing. Whatever manna we ate yesterday won't suffice for today as well. And the real manna that Moses and the Israelites ate in the wilderness for 40 years developed maggots if they kept it overnight. It is the same thing with our daily partaking of God each day. Our communion with Him yesterday would already be stale by today. It is a daily thing. And every day with Him is a new thing, a different plane, an altogether different mood, different outlook. He is indeed our daily sustenance.
Proverbs 24
30 I went past the field of the sluggard,
past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment;
31 thorns had come up everywhere,
the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was in ruins.
the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was in ruins.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed
and learned a lesson from what I saw:
and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest-
a little folding of the hands to rest-
34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.
and scarcity like an armed man.
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It is no wonder that many times I encounter discouragement, dryness, lack of direction and determination. We can't go slack on our time with God - Word, reflection, prayer. Being a sluggard in my garden brings on the fruit called "spiritual want" and altogether leanness in my life.
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