The cultivation of love is extended by a force much greater then I. In God's attempt to salvage humanity, He was forced to plant a seedling from His own garden and in the release, He wept over His own choice. Yes, even God Himself knew the pain of grief and rejection. We wonder why suffering exists as it does and the agony of “lost love” over whelms us to such a degree that we are helpless but to look up and ponder the very reasoning for the thorns.
We all get in slumps and in our isolation we tend to cultivate the silence, the salutation of mortar echoes its clang as the bricks go up once again. But what if, by chance…. what ever it is you are going through…is not just about you? What if God is allowing you to feel something that a million people are feeling right now, and instead of it only being about you, well…. imagine this as a garden and the very expression of love is measured out by what you do with your own grief.
I was praying just now and feeling a sense of isolation, or grief and it just took my breath away. I with a bible in one hand and a tissue in the other contemplated my dilemma and read a scripture that turned me around.
John 14:14
If ye ask anything in my name, I will do it.
Well no sooner then I read those words, I began to cry, the dam broke open and my pleading heart opened the gates of faith. Here we have the Son of God himself giving us an absolute promise and who am I to ponder with such a degree as this? I took this moment as an opening for something new to be planted within me and in my quest for wholeness I prayed for my ailment and no sooner then the words came out of me…the healing landed full force.
Wow, I laid there with awe and reverence over what happened next. I hear His tender voice say…. "What if this is not just about you"? I pondered a moment. Then He asked again. "What if this is not just about you"?
All a sudden the teaching of my grandma Bertie flooded over me and I was lead back to the one thing she taught me over and over…that most of the experiences we face are not just about us, they are experiences from God about what someone else is going through. They are waking dreams and visions of hearts breaking, of lives quaking and souls on the verge of giving in and giving up.
Then I asked God, 'Well who is this about then'? I knew a few people it could pertain too, but God took me past even them and showed me that what I or a friend may be going through represents millions of people and they need someone to pray for them with the same dedication for our own pain. You see unless we feel to the depths how others feel, we can never truly pray with a broken and contrite spirit. Unless we get to the place where we surrender and allow the Holy Ghost to make intercession, then we never truly come to understand what standing in the gap really means.
Now you may wonder how I got to this point so fast, well faith…. it was faith. When I read that scripture I accepted it instantly. Yes over what I was feeling at the time. I knew Jesus was going to fix it, but that fast? I was not prepared that in the split second I was able to ask, receive…then get into the work of God.
Yes…work!
You see one of Gods purposes in life is to get us to a point where we pray earnestly about ourselves first, but with full faith…not paint by number faith that takes a while, but full faith, instantly appearing over us like a masterpiece. Then once we surmise this healing before us…. we are not to just get up and walk away, play the day as if nothing is wrong in the world. The goal is to instantly move on to Phase 2…Actions.
Yes actions speak louder then words and we can talk about them all day long…but until we plant and cultivate love, we have done nothing for the kingdom of God. If we barely survive…then all we really did was our least.
Is your garden of expression flourishing today? Have you spent time in the word or at the foot of the cross? Did you read that scripture in John that says…ask any thing in my name, and I will do it? Wow, if you didn’t read that, you really missed something big. The fertilizer!! Now we can’t very well grow anything with out the nourishment now can we??
So…. whatever your doing as you read this…ask yourself. what is the garden of my expression today? If you find yourself standing on rocks instead of fertile ground…well…look over yonder at all the dark rich brown soil…grab a bucket of prayers…take off your shoes…and stand in the richness of Gods plenty, take a shovel and plant twenty. Take the water and the garment of praise, wash over the seedlings and express the way. What my grandma was trying to teach me was, to get past myself.
If your garden is not flourishing….then you have not gotten past yourself.
If we are to truly love our neighbor as ourselves, we will feel their needs and seek out the kind of prayers that truly move mountains.
Love Diana
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