I was listening to a music video last evening where they sang that old hymn, I Come To The Garden Alone. Do you remember that one?

Whenever I’m working in the Garden of the Master at WaterBrooks, I find myself humming that hymn.

“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.”

As the song ended there was thoughtful pause before one of the singers pointed out that word “tarry.” And my thoughts have been tumbling ever since!

It’s an old fashioned word, not much in use these days. We no longer take time to tarry. Newer words like “express” and “drive-thru” have been added to our modern vocabulary. We rush about so much.

According to Webster’s dictionary the meaning of the word tarry means “to delay”, “to linger in expectation”, or “to wait”. It also means to abide or stay in or at a place.

I love that thought, to linger in expectation. But I’ll save that for another time!

God came down to walk in his creation in the beginning of time. According to Genesis 1, God says He came down to walk among the trees. It sounds like that was His initial purpose in coming, to walk in His creation with His people. Perhaps he even did it regularly! After all, He created everything for His own delight and intended to take pleasure in it. But this time, Adam and Eve were nowhere to be found. They were hiding because they had eaten the forbidden fruit and they were not eagerly waiting for His presence.

Today I was chatting with a friend who was just feeling overwhelmed. Her home has been revolving doors with friends and family for the past few weeks. This morning she sat down on the couch, finally alone with the Word of God and unexpectedly burst into tears. She was feeling the deep need to take some quiet time to be recharged. Serving others is good but you can only go so long on the same charge. Just like our cell phones, our spiritual batteries run low, and they need to be plugged in to the charger and left alone for a while.

Sometimes there’s such an unexplainable yearning in our hearts for something we can’t quite put our finger on. Too often we ignore it and try to keep going in our own energy. We need to listen to that longing cry of our aching heart. That yearning has been placed there by the Lord Himself because He wants to connect with us, just as He came down and reached out to Adam and Eve.

When He comes into the garden to walk and talk with me, am I hiding like Adam and Eve? Am I busy pulling myself up by my bootstraps? Or am I waiting for His presence and then spending time lingering with Him…enjoying Him?

We need that time to tarry, to be quiet, to listen for His voice, for that is what gives the strength to keep going on. It’s the spiritual recharging that gives us the joy and energy to face each day.

He gives strength for each day. Indeed, the joy of the Lord IS our strength!