Gardens of God’s Grace

This is a morning of mornings, Sweet Sister!

A tiny hummingbird paid a visit to our newly planted morning glories.  The whirring wings produced a diaphanous halo around the bird as she hovered about the wide open lavender trumpets.  The elegant beak moved into one flower for, what seemed, but a small eternity, and then, off she went, seeking her sugary repast from another part of the well endowed garden.  This was one smart little bird!

I could not help but think of this diminutive creature, blessed with the capability to hover as a helicopter, equipped with her own built-in straw to suck sweet nectar from a magnificent bloom.  She was small, but lovely, as was the flower that provided her food this morning. And, although it was my husband’s delight to plant for me such a royal garden—right outside my breakfast nook— it was certainly God’s precious grace that initiated everything—this morning, from all eternity.

As if I had no cares at all, my thoughts today continued on the bird and the flower and the whole landscape. Every portion, part and parcel of that moment was a gift from God. God enhanced this creature with a talent for suspended animation, as her tiny wings fluttered at a rate impossible to determine. Her delicate beak, light enough for flight, long enough for feeding, little enough for her lilt, was crafted by our perfect Creator.

There was, also, the morning glory, a triumph among flowers, a delicate little roadside diner for passing hummingbirds. Each bloom with wide open mouth, singing praises to our gracious Father, enticed me to burst into Doxology—to Him be the glory—alongside the roses, hibiscus, geraniums and hydrangea.  What a Garden of Grace! God gives us eyes to see the color of each flower, ears to listen to the rainfall on the petals, hearts to enjoy His Creation.

At prayer, today, my eyes fell upon a cross.  It is an ornate metal object, designed for beauty, a symbol to remind me of what God’s grace did for me.  I thought about Jesus and His gardens.  One was the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) where sinful man would first hear the Gospel of Grace—the promise of Jesus, the Redeemer.  Then there was the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22), Christ’s torture chamber, where the suffering of Jesus, the Savior, would begin.  But, oh, Sister, there was a third garden—the Garden Tomb—where death itself, was defeated (John 20)!  Jesus, our Risen Lord, reigns eternal.  Now that is Grace!

As we sing the hymns that describe Grace as amazing, wonderful and marvelous, and, ah, Grace is certainly all of these, we should keep in mind that God’s grace was expensive, is abundant, and belongs to Him alone to give as a gift.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9.  His grace is bestowed on us, not earned by us.

That is what makes it so special—that a simple, little hummingbird would be designed so well to be able to be fed in midair from a flower that grows wildly in the garden of the home where dwells a sinner—a sinner saved by Grace!

~ Your sister, Mimi