Two Gardens

Not only am I super behind on the Sabbath School lessons (I’m just finishing last quarterly’s), but I haven’t posted on this blog in a long while. There are a few reasons for this, one is because I’ve been doing so many things and have been busy (which is probably the lamest excuse of all time since I had time to go on Pinterest all day among other things) and the other is, probably most importantly, I’ve had a bit of a dip in my spiritual life, mainly not studying the Bible or focusing my energy during my devotions. It’s also been tough to put my full trust in Him, tougher than it’s been in the past to be honest.

My last post was in October of last year, and since then, I’ve finished my Junior fall semester, studied abroad in Spain, traveled quite a bit around Europe, and started an internship in Texas. I’ve been moving around a lot, most often by myself. Studying abroad was the first time I’d ever been away from my parents for a long period of time with no way to immediately go back home. I was away from my family, friends, and spiritual community (not necessarily mutually exclusive) in a country where I was speaking a second language and largely by myself. I remember thinking before leaving that going somewhere where there aren’t any distractions and where I’m forced to be introspective would be good for both my spiritual and mental growth. I could have a lot of time to spend time with God and essentially get to know Him better than I did before.

Unfortunately, I was distracted. I had thoughts that I wanted to study more and post, but I only half-finished them. I was also rather lonely. Of course I made friends, in fact my host family and roommate knew about my “church crew” and how I would eat lunch with them every Sabbath or travel with them on random weekends. And don’t get me wrong, they were wonderful, but I still felt spiritually malnourished. During the week since I largely only went on campus for class and then came back home to read, eat, or blog. Loneliness dominated a lot of my time abroad, and I drew back from others, myself, and God. I felt farther and farther away from Him and I didn’t know how to get back.

Even now, I’m still not sure. Thankfully here in Texas, He lead me to an awesome young adult group that meets each week for prayer and generally lifts each other up spiritually. It was honestly a breath of fresh air after essentially walking on my spiritual journey alone and with very little support in Spain. And I’m praying I can keep dedicating each day to learning a little more about Him and taking out things that distract me from that spiritual growth.

But on to the study that I wanted to write about. This was from last lesson from the last quarterly during the week of June 20-27. The whole quarter focused on the book of Luke as well as drawing some clarifications from other Gospels and Christian writers. I actually really enjoyed that quarter, the author asked questions that gave me pause where the reasonings weren’t exactly obvious.

So, two gardens. Both are important in our history; where the inhabitants of the first failed, the occupant of the second triumphed. One witnessed the birth of sin in our world, and the other witnessed the beginnings of the victory over sin. Both occupants were presented the choice to go against God’s will. In the case of Adam and Eve, they were tempted to become like God, to uplift themselves, and they selfishly tried to do so. They were blinded by pride and saw that “the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise”; first Eve was deceived, and then Adam, who was also blinded by his selfish desires (Genesis 3:6). They disobeyed God and sinned, and as we know both from Genesis 2:16-17 and Romans 6:23, sin’s result is death. When Eve ate the fruit, it was Adam’s duty to sacrifice himself for the life of his wife. Instead, he joined her in disobeying God’s word and ate the fruit as well. They both deviated from God’s will and doubted His word and as a result, were separated from Him completely.

Fast forward to the second garden, the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus is praying right before His betrayer comes. He knows that what’s coming next is going to be the most difficult ordeal of His life; hours of suffering, mocking, and even further, separation from the Father that He’s walked with His entire life. So He uses these last few moments to connect with His Father, and ask if there is another way to save the human race. With the next few hours on His mind, He seeks the comfort of His friends, but even they have abandoned Him for sleep. So He goes through His agony alone, continuing to connect with and plead with His Father. In the end, He says, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done”; He submits to God’s will, and goes forward with the plan of salvation (Luke 22:42).

There was one main thing I got from this. We need to stay connected to God to resist temptation. And not just in the moment of temptation or trial, but well before. Christ spent those 30+ years before the Garden of Gethsemane communing with God and submitting to His will. It’s not like He lived a life of indifference or rebellion before flipping a switch when it mattered most and then suddenly started paying attention to God’s will. I’m sure if Adam and Eve left that tree completely, remembered God’s words, and didn’t even entertain the serpent, they would have resisted temptation, and who knows where our world would be now. That constant connection is crucial for maintaining and improving our relationship with God, even when we’re alone, away from family, friends, and spiritual community. If we feel spiritually dead at some point in our lives, we should of course look at our current circumstances, but don’t forget what came right before, because that most likely has a greater bearing on where we are spiritually. So as Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you“. These little things combined with regular study and regular time with God can keep us connected with Him in those little moments, and those little moments can prepare us for those bigger, tougher moments when we most need it.

I’ll end with one of my favorite hymns, In the Garden. It’s very much a song that’s a prayer and a hope. It’s one that regularly gives me comfort, knowing that I can spend time with God and that He wants to spend time with me.

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me,
Within my heart is ringing.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

I’d stay in the garden with Him,
Tho’ the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go, thro’ the voice of woe,
His voice to me is calling.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

(Apologies for the super long post. I just needed to get this off my chest, and I wasn’t going to be able to go to sleep without finishing and posting this first.)