Its funny how God gives us a theme for different seasons of life, He makes mine appear over and over because I ignore it or miss it so often. This month has been hard to miss though. It’s January, I’m living in what feels like the Garden of Eden, and it is our first month of ministry; if that doesn’t scream new beginning I don’t know what does.
The ministry house grounds are a guarded and sacred place, with a high fence making it a place of magic and mystery. There are lush green plants and beautiful flowers all over this compound. It’s almost like God saved a little sliver of the Garden of Eden and placed it in the city of Pretoria, South Africa.
When you drive through the gates, there is an overwhelming sense of the Lord and the beauty he creates for his people. These notions are confirmed even more as everyone who steps foot inside the gates speaks of how anointed this place is for everyone who is privileged to spend time within the walls. God truly blessed this first month as a time to wipe our slates clean of the baggage that we brought to the ministry field.
Our ministry asked us to weed around the property for several days to help maintain this beautiful place. As a team we have gotten to physically take the weeds out of such a beautiful place and watch it be restored to the way it is supposed to be, it has truly been a detox of the baggage that I brought with me. There is something about being out in the hot African sun with six other faithful women, quietly sorting out why God brought us on this journey, and building a community with each other to push each other forward from day one on this new journey.
The Garden is a place God brings so many people to grow them and have them wrestle with the truth of what He has called them to be. Adam and Eve were made in a garden to grow the world for the Lords purpose, to multiply the good that God created and seeks relationship with them in the Garden of Eden, despite their mistakes. Jesus goes to a garden to be with God and talk to the Lord about the sacrifice He was about to make, to seek peace and find if this was the purpose God had for him (Matt 26:36-46). Jesus’ tomb was in a garden, so it was there that He defeated death and rose again. (John 19:41). There is an undeniable truth about the sacred space of a garden, that God weeds out the sin in our lives and lays it rest, but also brings forth new life and new promises.
While not everyone is placed in a literal Garden for these processes to take place, we’re all brought to a place where God gives us time to weed out the sin in our hearts and be in a serene place with him. What is your new beginning this year? Where is the garden that God has brought you to in order to sort out his call on your life?
