IN THE GARDEN
words & music by
C Austin Miles

“I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses

(Chorus)
And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing

I’d stay in the garden with Him
‘Tho the night around me be falling
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling”

This hymn has been in my heart for a few weeks now.

I remember singing this, holding that baptist hymnal propped on the pew in front of me… standing beside my Poppi, hearing the beautiful harmony from my Mimi in the background…

So many years it was just a song. A song that I’d sing when asked to ‘…stand and turn in your hymnal to hymn number 137.’

Why did I not focus on the words? How did I not see the beauty of what this song talks about?

It stops me in my tracks these days.

When I researched this, in effort to understand why God was laying this in my heart, I learned that this man, Austin Miles, wrote this song from a revelation, a vision he got after reading John 20, about the encounter of Jesus and Mary Magdalene at the tomb, at her face to face encounter with the Risen Christ.

In chapter 20, Mary was the first one to the tomb, to find the stone rolled away. She went and got Peter and John, telling them someone had taken Jesus. When Peter and John both got back there and saw He wasn’t there, vs. 10, it says, “then the disciples went back again to their own homes. But Mary was still standing outside the tomb sobbing…” and Jesus showed up and called her name, and she recognized who He was, “Rabboni!” She said.

I would imagine that nothing else in her entire world mattered anymore in that moment, or ever again…

Because Jesus was standing in front of her.

Because what He did for her was real, how He set people free was unexplainable, how He healed them was indescribable, and everything He said would happen, happened.

Just like Mary, I’ve seen what God can do.

I’ve seen the chains He can break.

And I sing now with purpose, with the veil being removed from my eyes.

I understand the chill and darkness of a valley, of the trenches…

I understand being pulled out of something dark by the Mighty Hand of God,

I understand a religious heart of stone turned to flesh again…

There is a personal, heart understanding of that Jesus encounter, knowing what walking and talking with Jesus actually means.

I sing this knowing that it’s not in heaven one day that I’ll get to walk with Jesus, but now, today and everyday, every moment if I want.

I come to the garden alone, here, in the mornings during my quiet time. While it’s dark still, the family still sleeps, and the dew is still on the roses…

I hear his voice all during the day, bathing Charlotte, doing dishes, folding clothes. Driving to practices and games and while I work.

This third stanza though, right here is where it explodes in my heart for me…

I’d stay in the garden all day with Jesus.

All day. Resting in His quiet presence.

Ask Clint.

But there comes a time when the darkness is no more in our lives, when Jesus has healed, set us on Him as cornerstone in His light… and It’s time to go and tell what He did for us.

Although all I want to do is sit and soak in His presence alone, I can’t ignore that the ‘night around me is falling…’

So he bids me go— and it’s MY voice of woe —that wants to linger, stay, celebrate, dance… MY voice that’s uncertain.

But His voice to me is calling…

My worst season in life has now officially been made my best season in life, all by the power of Christ.

Because it’s in walking and talking with Him,

Hearing Him tell me I am His own,

that each day, no matter what it may try to bring,

that love we share, as we tarry there, none other has ever known…

This is for everyone. Not just me. There’s plenty to go around, and it’s time.

Dear God,

Thank you for walking and talking with me, now in THIS life. Thank you for your Holy Spirit who never leaves us. Thank you for showing the readers how much you love them. Thank you for Jesus.

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