And then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!

The Lord God took the human and settled him in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it. (Genesis 1:31, and 2:15)

It’s Sunday morning, and things are fairly quiet around here at the Presbyterian Church – especially after the thrilling, carnival-ride atmosphere of Vacation Bible School this past week.

Now it’s families racing off on vacation, or weekending at the beach; youth on mission trips or at camp; people heading off on adventures; young people gearing up for college.

So the WFPC campus is a little quiet, yes; but if you stand still and listen you can hear this gentle buzz running just under the surface, like a thousand bees working away in a flowerbed at the very edge of your consciousness, or the hum of a high-voltage power-line overhead. It’s a quietness loaded with faith and undergirded with prayer.

If you stand still and listen you can hear this gentle buzz running just under the surface… It’s a quietness loaded with faith and undergirded with prayer.

I really enjoy walking around the grounds on days like this, well before the scorching sun comes out, and before the parking lot begins to fill with cars; here in the garden most of all; full with flowers, and memorials, and vegetables; laden with blessing, hope, and promise.

I walk through the gate, past the white picket fence, and I can sense the power of the love that gives life to all the flowers, that loads the vegetables with nourishment, and that replenishes the souls of the thirsty, the hungry, the tired, and those carrying burdens that they want so very much to leave at the cross.

This whole church, really, is that kind of a garden, God’s promise, planted in these beautiful acres just off Capital Boulevard, and dedicated to the glory of God and to the life-saturated ministry of working out God’s purposes, right here in Wake Forest.

It’s such a privilege and a blessing to be planting, and praying, and cultivating, in this corner of The Garden. “And then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!”

Very good – DEREK