The Secret Garden Chronicles - "Here I Am" ~Updated for 2018

I was just reminded by my friend Martha Jane Orlando in her timely post "A Blessed Lent" (Click HERE), that tomorrow is not only Valentine's Day, but it is also Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent...that 40 day season of preparation for the celebration of Easter.  I must admit that I was caught off-guard a bit to realize that we are already approaching this time of fasting, reflection and renewal...I've been too busy doing, and not reflecting.  I haven't spent any time yet this year in the Secret Garden due to weather and other interruption of life, but it is calling to me...and I believe this season of Lent will be a wonderful time to get back to where the Lord and I can walk in the garden together...

So here is a post written last year from the Secret Garden that speaks to my heart today. Perhaps it will speak to you as well as we begin this 40 day journey toward Easter tomorrow.  Let's see where the Lord will take each of us during this time, okay?  Sounds like a good plan.

Lord, help me to use this time to draw the closer to You, to truly seek this "renewal" You've been reminding me of lately...

Here's a few Camellia Blossoms gathered from The Secret Garden yesterday 2/12/18. Yes, the Lord is walking in the garden...I need to meet Him there...

Original Post 3/5/2017:
Okay, I have to admit that I've been struggling with this particular post for several days. I started on it Friday, and here it is Sunday, and it is as though God won't let me walk away from this without giving it another hearing.  It's one thing for me to struggle with a passage in the Bible because I can't quite figure out what the Lord is trying to say to me...and then wouldn't you know, that is the exact same passage that my husband decided to preach about this morning in our Home Bible Fellowship!  I thought, "Okay, Lord.  I got the message! You are NOT going to let me ignore this passage any longer.  You want me to hear what You have to say...and then do something about it!"  I still haven't quite figured that part out yet...but You've got my attention, Lord...so here we go!

So, this is where I was on Friday, sitting in the Secret Garden...and the first thing I wrote down was:

"So Lord, Do You have something to tell me today?  Here I am, waiting to hear Your voice..."

And then I turned to the book of Isaiah, chapter 58.  I've been thinking a lot about Lent...and fasting, and other ways to observe this season prior to Easter.  Isaiah 58 has a lot to say about fasting...and here are some of the highlights that spoke to me...

6.  "Is this not the fast that I have chosen;

To loose the bonds of wickedness,

To undo the heavy burdens;

To let the oppressed go free,

and that you break every yoke?

7.  Is it not the share your bread with the hungry,

And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;

When you see the naked, that you cover him

and not hide yourself from your own flesh?

8.  Then your light shall break forth like the morning;

Your healing shall spring forth speedily,

and your righteousness shall go before you;

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

9.  Then you shall call,

and the Lord will answer.

You shall cry, and He will say,

"Here I Am."

Okay, Lord, I guess I asked for You to speak...and You did.  Now I need You to show me how to do this...Give me wisdom and direction...for this sounds like a difficult thing to do in my own strength.

But You promised in verses 10-11:

10.  "If you extend your soul to the hungry

and satisfy the afflicted soul,

THEN your light shall dawn in the darkness,

and your darkness shall be as the noonday."

11.  "The Lord will guide you continually,

and satisfy your soul in drought,

and strengthen your bones!

You shall be like a watered garden,

and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail."

Oh Lord!  I want to be this strong, "well-watered garden" person...Help me, Lord, to be what YOU want me to be.

So, here is a song that came to my lips as I sat in the garden praying about these passages and trying to open my heart to the Lord's message to me today...  

"I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go" 
(click on this link for the song)

by Mary A. Brown

1 It may not be on the mountain’s height,

Or over the stormy sea;

It may not be at the battle’s front

My Lord will have need of me.

But if by a still, small voice He calls

To paths I do not know,

I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in Thine,

"I’ll go where You want me to go."

Refrain:

I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord,

Over mountain, or plain, or sea.

I’ll say what You want me to say, dear Lord.

I’ll be what You want me to be.

2 Perhaps today there are loving words

Which Jesus would have me speak;

There may be now, in the paths of sin,

Some wand’rer whom I should seek.

O Savior, if Thou wilt be my Guide,

Tho' dark and rugged the way,

My voice shall echo the message sweet,

I’ll say what you want me to say. 

[Refrain]

3 There’s surely somewhere a lowly place

In earth’s harvest fields so wide

Where I may labor thro' life’s short day

For Jesus, the Crucified;

So, trusting my all to Thy tender care,

And knowing Thou lovest me,

I’ll do Thy will with a heart sincere,

I’ll be what You want me to be. 

[Refrain]

I'm sure most of you have heard and sung these words at some time in your Christian life.  I know I have many times...and many times in response to this very song, the Lord took me at my word, and soon off we would go into some new ministry.  

One thing I've learned in this life...if you truly don't want to go anywhere for the Lord or do anything for Him, then don't sing these songs or pray these kinds of prayers...because God will hear you...and He will take you at your word...and you may find yourself on a foreign mission field...or praying with a neighbor who has just had some bad news...or who needs to know the Lord...or you may be taking food to the hungry or sick or lonely...or leading a Bible study, or teaching a Sunday School class...or helping the elderly or sick or lonely...or inviting people into your home from the neighborhood for a bar-b-que or tea party or luncheon...or just to visit and be a friend.  But I can assure you, if you are sincere in your desire to serve the Lord, He will never take you anywhere that He will not go with you...He will lead you every step of the way, and even go before you and prepare the way...and you need not fear where He will lead.  He will never leave you alone or on your own.

Back to the prophet Isaiah...and early in the book, chapter six, verse 8:

"Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying:

"Whom shall I send,

and who will go for Us?"

Then I said, 

"Here am I! 

Send me!"

Okay, Lord, I think You've gotten Your message through to me today.  I know I tried to wiggle out of this and not put it out here for the world to read...but now that we've gone this far...Here I am...send me...wherever You please...and to do whatever You ask.  I know You will go with me, so there is nothing to fear. Thank you, Lord, for not giving up on me. Amen.

Meanwhile, back in the Secret Garden...the Chickadees are busy preparing their nest in the birdhouse.  Here's mama (or daddy?), with a mouth full of nesting material, sitting patiently on the branch of the tree overhead, waiting for me to leave so she can safely go about the business of building the nest. Daddy bird showed up after a while to ask why she was still waiting there. She sat there the whole time I was writing this, and finally when I got up for a minute she flew into the birdhouse to deposit her nesting twigs. I guess I need to be more considerate of their building schedule and try not to interfere...

The End...for today.  Stay tuned for further developments.

(Click HERE for a link to a previous post from Isaiah 58)