The Garden

The garden: full of life, growth, and vibrancy. Ivy: resilient, strong, and invasive. Plants: take time to grow, take care, and need water & light. “The Garden” by Kari Jobe is a song that has been on my heart and mind lately. Kari has an innate ability to weave stories and narrative into her worship songs; this song is a perfect example.

Kari wrote this song during the time her and her family were dealing with the death of her stillborn niece; the baby’s middle name was Ivy. In a song story, Kari explains that this song is very intricate and that each person will experience this song differently because we are all in different places in life. Today, I wanted to share what I experience from this song.

We ask God to heal, do miracles, and work in our lives but we often want it on our time. We don’t trust His plans because we don’t see the other side. This is where the song starts for me: tired, defeated, and in need of a breakthrough.

But then we see the ivy. We see Gods hand in the situation. We see the growth and the life. The garden signifies hope, life, and breakthrough. The ivy is a sign from God, a sign of peace, a sign of growth. The garden shows us that God has been working in our life the whole time.

The symbolism of the garden is something so beautiful. So accurate. It’s a symbol of God bringing us out of the desert and into the lush land of His presence. Creation began and the first people, Adam & Eve, lived in a garden. I love the symbolism of the garden all throughout the Bible. For me, a garden shows the beautiful relationship between us and God. The garden shows God’s healing hand and His want for affection from us.

Often, we believe that God should we working when and how we want…but we don’t see it. But God works when HE is ready and eventually if we take time and hang on, we will see His handy work in all things around us. The ivy is a beautiful example of Gods faithfulness. He crushes all our fears and brings us through the desert into His beautiful garden.

So for me, this song is about breakthrough. It’s about walking out of the tough times and seeing that God was working in your life the whole time. It’s about seeing Gods hand in our lives- seeing the ivy growing. He plans ahead, He never leaves, He crushes our fears, He wants us to see HIS faithfulness in all the green growing. He will stop at nothing to heal our brokenness. 

Oftentimes, He is growing that ivy and yet we still keep our eyes closed; we refuse to see God working in our lives blinded by our own problems & trials. And yet, all God wants if for us to see His faithfulness and trust Him. He wants us to see the garden.

Are we seeing His faithfulness in our lives? Often, I know that I am not taking time to look. This post is as much for me as anyone else. My prayers is that we start looking for that ivy growing in our lives and holding on to His presence because HE is in control.