The Garden

The Garden. Job was there. In fact, so much was against him that everyone close to him told him to curse God and die. But he stood. In spite of all that happened around him, losing his family, his health and all his possessions, in the midst of the worst of times, he chose to continue to believe God.



Joseph was there. While being thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, and later imprisoned for no fault of his own, he experienced the garden. He had a dream from God and he knew it wasn't the end yet. That in the midst of all that happened, there was a better end to come; it was only part of the journey.



Jesus knew. The Garden was where He anguished so deeply over what was to come He bled through his pores! It was a time where if anything could be done differently, He pleaded to God that it would. It was a time when all who were with Him couldn't stand alongside in prayer. He was all alone. Him and God. In the darknes of the night. Asking. Pleading even. But whatever happens, let it be Your will Father, not mine.



Have you been there? Most people at some time in their life has. It's a place where you are confronted with your will versus Gods will. The garden represents the crisis of faith. The deepest of the deep. When you have nothing left to stand on, will you still stand with God? It's not a fun place; it's not a place you look forward to visiting. But it is a place most everyone at some point in their life will visit.



The question isn't, will I visit? We will have times in our lives where we question God and His power and authority in our lives. The question is who will I be when I leave the garden? Will I leave with a deeper trust in God or will I search for something to replace God with?



The one thing that has shown up for Job, Joseph and Jesus is, with the right choice, it only gets better from there. Job went on trusting God and was rewarded with a double blessing of all that he lost. Joseph remembered his dream and trusted God to bring it forth and in turn saved his family and the entire land. Jesus accepted God's will and suffered for that which He didn't deserve and through His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave saved all those that call on His name and believe in Him.