How do we get to know someone better? The song “In The Garden” beautifully suggests answers to that question. Please give it a listen, then come back here for more.

Getting to know you

It is not hard for a person to be a better expert on their hobby than on their their job. That might seem backwards, but it is easy to explain:

We like to spend time with what we like.

Hobbies are optional. People pick up hobbies because they like them, and are happy spending time learning about them.

But, often people get jobs only because they need them, and they just put in the time they are paid for. (How to think about a job is a subject for another day, but I’ll mention the Bible tells us to work for our boss with the same attitude and energy we work for the Lord. One other good idea: people at the top of their professional fields often love their work like a hobby. They spend time with what they like, and get really good at it. Finding that kind of work does not need to be left to chance.)

We get to know things by spending time with them.
We get to know people by spending time with them.
We get to know God by spending time with Him.

Spending time with Him

The song “In The Garden” starts with “I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses”. See the picture. We are up and moving, walking in a lovely quiet place. Phone is off. It is morning, the day is young, the dew is still on the flowers, and the fragrance is heavenly. Birds stir and sing quietly. We are looking. Listening. Hearing. Smelling. Touching.

We can’t help but start a conversation with the One who created this beauty.

We are to be congratulated! We got ourselves up and away to experience such a time.

He is to be congratulated!
He used His ability to bring such beauty into existence for our enjoyment. He used His ability to bring US into existence, enabling us to see, understand, and enjoy Him.

God is amazing. People are amazing. Take time to get to know them.

Talking and listening

We cannot always get to a real garden. But we CAN plant and water a Garden of God in our minds and visit it often. We grow this garden by learning and remembering wonderful truths from the Bible. We read the Bible. We listen to teachings on it. We stock our minds with God’s thoughts, and spend time with Him and with them.

As we spend time growing this Garden of God in our minds, we converse with the Lord. Conversations include both talking and listening. Conversations with our Heavenly Father can include thanking Him for big things and small, telling Him what we are thinking, asking for help, …. and listening for His answer. We make a mistake when we think prayer is a chore to get done, like buying a bottle of milk from the store. Walk in, find the milk, pay the cashier, walk out. Done.

No, prayer is more like a conversation. Time is invested. Hearts and minds meet. Ideas are exchanged. Some ideas might be set in motion, and only finished years later. Sometimes the whole point is simply to enjoy time together. We don’t just talk. We pause and enjoy the response of the other.

Happy gardening!

God bless you lots.

-Dale R.

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LYRICS: In The Garden
C. Austin Miles (1913)

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.

Chorus:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice 
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;
And the melody that He gave to me 
Within my heart is ringing

Please share your thoughts

I’ve heard, “You can find God anywhere and miss Him everywhere.” What do you think about that? Please jot a note about it in the “Leave a reply” spot below.

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