Graves Into Gardens

https://youtu.be/KwX1f2gYKZ4

(Hopefully this link works, let me know if it doesn’t)

Graves: a place of burial for a dead body, typically a hole dug in the ground and marked by a stone or mound.

Gardens: ornamental grounds laid out for public enjoyment and recreation.

One of my favorite worship bands (Elevation Worship) came out with a new song, Graves Into Gardens, and it is on rotation right now. I LOVE it!! The song got me thinking of a vision someone special had of me and a passage in the Bible that someone gave to me during a season of mourning.

The vision was during a worship service. It was during my time in Youth With A Mission and the other Colorado bases came together for a conference. It was an incredible time of being together and learning what God has in store for us in the mission field. Anyway, during one of the most intense worship experiences I have been through, I felt an arm come around my shoulders and the girl I had complimented on her shirt a day before, had her arm around me. She had to basically yell in my ear but she said she had a vision of me dancing in a field of flowers singing and laughing and crying to God of how good He is. Dancing is one of my favorite forms of worship to God. I didn’t know this girl from Adam and Eve, but I felt a special bond form between us in that moment.

Now fast foreword to when I’m on my outreach in Cambodia. One of the other mission teams had prayers or visions or verses for my team. a few of the members had a passage for me. The passage is from the book of Ezekiel. The chapter details a vision revealed to the prophet Ezekiel:

“The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’ ””

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭37:1-14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Wow, that passage has a special place in my heart. After I graduated from YWAM, I felt empty. I didn’t know what to do after I left and came back to Texas. For three months I felt like, it was so bad I stopped going to church. When Irealized how dead I felt on the inside, I was immediately reminded of the vision that girl had of me and I knew I needed to change. Instead of laying in bed in the mornings and scrolling through my phone, I started waking up and praying. I prayed for different things that I wanted to change in my life or just for what was going on during that day. Then I started reading the Bible and memorizing scripture. It was a slow and steady process but I felt the fire that had dimmed start burning brighter and bigger. It felt so good and I was worshipping God everyday. I was in my valley of bones, then God brought me into the field of flowers to dance freely and wildly for Him.

(Picture credits not mine!)

Chris Brown, lead singer in Elevation Worship, said about the song, Graves Into Gardens, “What God breathes on must come to life, and what we may see as a grave, God sees as a garden.“ And that hit me hard. God spoke into the darkness to become light, and just like that, there was light. He breathed plants and animals on this earth. He took man from the ground and breathed life into his lungs. I’m sitting here and just in awe of God.

(Picture credits not mine)

I like to think our hearts are like a garden. When we don’t allow God into our garden, weeds and thorns start growing. A valley of bones. A grave. A grave of bones from our past and the things we have done in our life. There’s another definition of the word “grave”, “a place where a broken or discarded object lies”. The words and shameful acts we think God could never forgive. The garden that was once thriving with bright colorful flowers and fruits, now sits as a wasteland inside of us. Friend, let me tell you that if the same God who can turn the darkness into light, who can put a trillion stars in the universe and know them each by name, knows you and looks past all the flaws you THINK you have. He sees you as perfect. You don’t have to struggle with self worth and self doubt, He sees you as beautiful and worthy of love.

He will send rain and it will hurt when he pulls those strong weeds that have buried deep within you. Believe me, God did it to me. It was hard. It was a battle between me and God. I ward with God and cried with guilt and shame from my past. But He won. Side note: He always wins. He tore down the thick and heavy walls I had built up to protect my heart and mind from the haunting nightmares. He shattered my view of Him being a judgmental and strict god, to being a loving and just God. He broke my self doubt that I’m not worthy of love, or that nobody cares about me. now... now I am living on fire for Him. My valley of bones turned into a living and thriving garden!!

(picture credits not mine)

Share this post or the song, Graves Into Gardens by Elevation Worship, with friends and family. My prayer for you this week is that you will take each day and give God your heart. It won’t happen over night, it’s a daily task. Butt over time, you will see your heart/garden thriving with color and beauty and life!!

Love you, friend<3