Finding Peace in the Garden

by Katie Harding on September 25, 2023

I’ve always looked at the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus’ Garden, the place where He submitted to the Father’s will as the disciples dozed nearby. Yet, recently as I was going through some medical tests, I realized the Garden of Gethsemane can be our garden, as well. It’s the place we often find ourselves when we face times of stress or suffering. But the garden can also be the place where decisions are made, and comfort is found.

The night Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane, His soul was in anguish. He was grieved almost to the point of death. The time of decision had come, and “…the father had given all things into his hands” (John 13:3). Whether or not He would submit to the Father’s plan was His decision to make and His alone, and He made it as He sought solace in prayer in surrendering to the Father’s will: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” Which He followed by, “My Father, if this [cup] cannot pass unless I drink it, Thy will be done” (Matthew 26:39, 42). Yielding control and trusting the Father for the outcome seemed to give Jesus great strength for what lay ahead.

Paul said in his letter to the Romans that when we don’t know how to pray as we ought, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us in accordance with God’s will. But have you ever have wondered what exactly the Holy Spirit prays? As I waited almost two weeks for the results of the final test, I wondered if the intercession of the Spirit might resemble the same prayers Jesus prayed for Himself that night in the garden. Prayers that encourage our submission to the will of the Father.

But I realized something else that is often overlooked during Jesus’ time in the garden that night. Before He went off to pray, He invited those with Him to do two things: “…remain here and keep watch with Me.”

Remain here. When we find ourselves in this garden with Jesus, He invites us to stay there with Him and not to run from the garden, even though it might be stressful or painful at times. We must always remember we are not alone in the garden. Jesus is there with us in the middle of whatever situation we find ourselves.

Keep watch with Me. As we remain in the Garden with Jesus, He also reminds us not to let our thoughts or Google searches get ahead of the unfolding of His plans. Instead, He encourages us to wait with Him and see life from His perspective as we seek His ways and peace in the waiting.

Although the test report that came in the mail today was negative, I made an important discovery as I spent time waiting over the past two weeks. That night, almost two thousand years ago, they may have thought they took Jesus out of the garden for good, but it is to the garden where He has returned. For every time we go to Him with our challenges, struggles, and stress, it is there where we find Him. He is in the garden waiting for us and praying to give us peace.

Pictured above: Garden of Gethsemane