My Spirit as a Garden

I would not normally share something so intimate with strangers, but I believe you are my sisters and I love sharing good and wonderful things with my sisters, especially what God lays on my heart. During my quiet time today, I prayed that the Holy Spirit show me what my spirit looked like as if it were a garden. I thought I was crazy to pray such a prayer. I might see lots of weeds and thorny bushes, but I was hoping for at least a pretty bush or two. As I prayed, a beautiful fragrant smell came to me. It was not too sweet but very delicate in nature. It reminded me of walking by a honeysuckle bush. Then I got a glimpse of a beautiful rose. It was light peach and pink in color with touches of yellow. I began to cry at its beauty. But then my eyes trailed down the rose and I saw the thorns on the stem. They resembled steps. I breathed in air and gasped slightly-my trials! Tears are streaming down my face now. The Holy Spirit began to reveal that these thorns were my past trials. "Look up the stem, what do you see?" I looked back up the stem and there was a beautiful rose that had bloomed open. I was in awe at this point. I suddenly desired Jesus to come and sit inside my garden for awhile and stay. I looked for a wooden bench for him to sit on? I've never thought of that before. Nor had I ever thought, "Is my garden a place where Jesus would want to sit and stay awhile?" That was my next prayer, "Holy Spirit are show me if there are any weeds or ugly thorny bushes I need to pull up. No one wants to sit inside an ugly garden. Holy Spirit help me build a beautiful garden and bench. I want my garden to be a beautiful place where Jesus and others would want to stay and talk for awhile. I thought of a beautiful place with constant beams of sunshine."

After this, I really began to think about what I was shown and what my thoughts were. I was recently told by a dear friend about a prayer called the Gardner's Prayer (I think that was the name). I'm sure that little seed she put in my ear was what prompted my prayer and I'm so thankful to God for her. Draw your own conclusions of my quiet time, but I know I'm going to get busy building a bench and yanking out weeds in my garden. It's not something I want to do-that is for sure! Gardening always sounds fun but it is hard work! It seems the more you dig the more you uncover and the dirtier and sweatier you get. But, it sure is nice to be able to sit back, admire the garden and invite friends over for a glass of lemonade or tea to enjoy all that you've accomplished. My next prayer will most likely be, "Lord, do I need a big tractor with a scoop or a shovel to get those thorny bushes and weeds out?" What I do know is that God will provide His mighty tools for such a big job.