A Secret Garden

It’s the most photographed door in St. Augustine.

Red and weathered, standing under a stone arch, it looks as if it could have been around when Ponce de Leon landed in Florida.

It’s my first sight of St. Augustine every year when I arrive for Thanksgiving since the door is just across the street from the inn where I’ve stayed for the past 25 years.

The door is an artist's dream.

Pictures are painted of it. 

Brides stand in front of it. 

I take new photos of it every year. 

{I’ve even used one of the photos on my blog banner.}

But I always thought the gate led nowhere. I wasn’t sure if it belonged to the run-down house beside it or the rather ordinary house on the other side of it.

This year, I took photos of it every day, capturing varying degrees of shadows and light.

And before leaving the inn to head home, I grabbed my camera for some final shots. I waited for a slow-poking tourist couple with their fanny packs and cameras to move along so I could shoot my photos. 

They gazed at the door for so long I started to get impatient when I saw the man push open the door. 

How brazen! Didn’t he know it was private property? 

For as long as I’ve been visiting St. Augustine, I have never seen the door open.

I watched him take a few steps in, then back out, shut the door and finally walk away. 

It never occurred to me to get that close to the door before. I always took my photos from a safe distance, but now that I saw that audacious daredevil tourist {I'm pretty sure he was pushing 80} do it, I was infused with a bit of bravery.

Here was my chance.

I ran across the street and peered through the iron grate.

To my surprise, I glimpsed beautifully manicured pathways that weren’t visible at all from the street. 

My niece Devon grabbed my camera and laid on the ground to shoot a photo through a hole in the planks near the ground.

All these years, I had no idea there was a hidden garden behind the door. I’d never gotten close enough to see it.

It takes a long time to uncover the hidden secrets of God. 

He is like a treasure that I have to go deep to unearth. Layer by layer, the experience of knowing him just gets richer.

I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. -Is. 45:3

He is not in a hurry. He can’t be rushed to reveal himself. 

From the baby we adore at Christmas, to the savior we exult at Easter, and the king whose return we await, this God-yet-man has countless facets to his character that takes days turned to decades to know. 

When we get next to him and offer him the best part of ourselves -- which can only be accomplished with great effort, dedicated time and gritty determination -- then his whisper is like a secret we savor.  

He has invited me to come closer, then steered me on a new footpath, sometimes urging me to keep up with him, sometimes asking me to wait on him, but always accompanying me, never leaving me alone.

When I get close enough to his heart, hoping for a glimpse of how he sees me, that’s when I discover him, hidden, yet waiting for me. 

He invites me to share my secrets with him, promising to hold them all very close to his heart. 

You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride, a secluded spring, a hidden fountain. - Song of Solomon 4:12

What would it take to crack open the door of your heart and really get to know God?

Maybe you’re hiding from the adventure God wants to take you on because you fear it’s too big of a risk. 

Maybe you’ve closed your heart to love because it’s not worth risking the disappointment. 

Maybe you fear the future, afraid to leave what’s convenient and comfortable because you're just not sure that God can really be trusted.

Come close enough to really know him. 

That’s the secret. There you’ll find hidden treasures.

As I drove past that old red gate on my way out of St. Augustine, it looked the same as it always did. 

But it seems different to me now that I know what’s behind it. I know its secret.

And I wonder how I could have waited so long to discover it.

I'm linking up with my friends at Holley Gerth's place at Coffee for your Heart and Bonnie Gray at the Faith Barista. Join me there for posts from my blogger friends!