Garden of Grace - Mary Bowen
“and provide for those who grieve in Zion to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,” Isaiah 61:3Oh, how she mourns him – too suddenly, too soon,
He left her alone while their garden still bloomed.
Like one of her flowers, she’s lovely, yet frail;
The grief of her loss still has strength to assail.
Yet what can be seen in her sorrowful state
Is a joy and a peace, yes, a love that is great;
A generous giving to family and friends,
A compassionate heart, as she listens and bends
Much like her flowers before a strong wind.
The storm of her grief, through relentless assault,
Has battered her garden – God, who is at fault?
Once a dear Friend, are You now a fierce Foe
Who takes such a treasure to leave such deep woe?
Her struggles of soul and anguish of heart
Are slowly transformed into bearing her part
In the ongoing mystery, the secret, the code
Of God’s sovereign choices, His inscrutable love.
Now with faith refined in a crucible of fire,
She stands even firmer, but altered and higher
To heaven, where unspeakable beauty awaits,
And she can finally join him in God’s loving estate.
Mary Bowen is a wife and mother, and has been published in several magazines and newspapers. She currently works as editor for the North American Mission Board. She is secretary of the Christian Authors Guild in Atlanta, Georgia and enjoys two book clubs, church choir and aerobics. Read Mary's devotions and poems.
