Longing for the Eternal Garden

We have a choice to be a life that blooms with love, whether in the barren or the bloom. #Spring #Bloom #garden

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At our core, we long for the eternal garden of Heaven. Author Randy Alcorn writes, “All our lives we’ve been dreaming of the New Earth. Whenever we see beauty in water, wind, flower, deer, man, woman, or child, we catch a glimpse of Heaven.”

Even though we live in the fallen world, God gives us glimpses of beautiful Heaven. God’s glimpses of Heaven are like love notes to us where he says, “Hi there. I love you. I see you. Do you see me?” Heaven glimpses are conversations with our Creator and our path to garden living this side of Heaven. To me, garden living is living with the hope of Jesus, who uses his beauty in creation to prepare us for the New Earth. It’s like looking for God’s blessing, practicing gratitude, and stopping to smell the roses.

But how do we live with hope when there is so much suffering, loss, and temptation–when the garden no longer looks like a garden? When relentless weeds of bitterness and envy invade like armies of unwanted black nightshade while nasty horn worms come as thieves in the night, devouring whole tomato plants.

Again, it is by looking for God’s blessings, practicing gratitude, and yes, stopping to smell the roses. When we change our focus from the fallen world’s corruption not only in our physical but spiritual gardens, our eyes begin to see God’s wonderful blessings alongside us.

Spring is the perfect time to demonstrate the promise of God’s beauty, new life, and new beginnings. We see it as the sleeping trees come to life as they transform overnight into full green flora. The grey, beige grasses are verdant, and stick bushes blossom into fuchsias, whites, lavenders, pinks, yellow, and more with fragrance to lift our dreary, wintered spirits.

We are journeying through a Second Advent that winds through the wilderness of Lent and rearranges eternity with Easter as we await Christ’s Second Coming. This is a time for securing our hearts in the hope of Jesus with his assurance of redemption and restoration. In doing this, we receive the peace of Christ in our terrestrial garden as we await the celestial garden.

In winter, much of creation sleeps or hibernates, and many people slow down. I like the slowdown of winter. Although the New Year and all its excitement entice me to burst ahead, winter beckons me to nap, dream, and linger in God’s wonder. Here, I see God’s blessings even in what may seem bare, cold, and asleep, usually in the most unexpected places. God has made everything beautiful in its time.

King Solomon wrote, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 NKJV.

We have a choice to be a life that blooms with love, whether in the barren or the bloom.

I first explored these questions that came to me while writing my poem “The Holy Wild” which I will share below:

When man first walked out of the garden, what did he leave behind?

When we left the garden, we left behind our innocence, immortality, and original design.

Have we lost touch with our garden selves?

I believe we have. But with intentional practice, we can get in touch with ourselves.

How do we get back in touch with our garden selves?

By practicing spiritual habits like spiritual rest, we draw near to God and bask in his presence in prayer, our Bibles, and His beautiful creation. As we slow down, we walk in step with our Creator.

Will God swoop everything up and take it back to Heaven with him?

The Bible says God will create a new earth and a new Jerusalem. Apostle John described what he saw in the Scripture passage from Revelations 21:1-2: “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first Heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (NKJV).

We will be in the beauty and glory of Jesus Christ, eternally free of sin, pain, and suffering. In the new Heaven and new earth, there will be no sin and thus, no more curse (Revelation 22:3).

Can we return to our garden selves, the ones we were once in Eden?

Because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, our resurrected selves are a new creation in Christ as we slip into new bodies, beauty beyond imagination, imperishable in white garments, glorious and luminous.

We begin and then return to God, a mixture of heaven and earth dust—God’s creation, His glory, and beauty.

Thank you for reading. I’d love to hear your thoughts on ‘garden living’, heaven glimpses, and whatever inspirations and reflections this essay may of been for you.

God bless and may God’s love and peace embrace you,

Deborah

The Holy Wild was first published with 

Kimberly Phinney https://www.thewayback2ourselves.com/journal/americanlandscape and will be in my upcoming poetry collection Prodigal Daughter: Poems of Light for the Lost (The Way Back Books 2025).

Also, be sure to pick up our book “Unexpected Blessings: 40 Days of Discovering God’s Best.” Our prayer is that in these 40 days, you will shift your perspective, trust God’s timing, lean into Jesus, and recognize His blessings in ways you never expected. Grab your copy today on AMAZON! If you already have the book and haven’t left a review we would be so grateful if you did.

Reference Notes:

P. 282 “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn (2004)

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