Into The Stillness

/ Cheryl McGrath
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Psalm 46:10,11

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!  the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Psalm 46:10,11

Forever drawing me back

You watch

as I run frantically

from one chaos to the next

seeking to arrive, but never arriving

living the lie:

if I just do this, that, the next thing

then stillness will come

and I will find You

 

So I sit, exhausted,

in the cool of Your Presence

expectantly

needfully

trustfully

mind swirling dizzily with a thousand different stories

words held dormant

only now, in hindsight, truly heard

thoughts, prayers, questions, tears,

wounds, hopes, regrets and fears

past and present converging

in a weary, disordered mass

 

My body tense, on edge

aching with the madness

of this life’s demands

every muscle tort

every sinew straining to hear You

restlessly resisting the ringing of the phone

the traffic outside the window

the children on the way to school

the random, relentless tyranny

of things and sounds and

stifling banality

 

Undeterred You wordlessly gather me

into the Stillness of I AM

prying my fingers loose

from all I would so rigidly cling to

wrapping me softly in Your All-ness

kissing open my eyes

to a different, truer reality

truth and mercy,

in welcoming familiarity,

washing over my open wounds

 

You teach me again how to sink into You

as if it was something we’ve never done before

as if it wasn’t something I’ve learned and

forgotten in rapid repetition

only to run back thirsting for more

and finding the way back

along this old familiar road

through this gate that never closes

has become my only way home

 

And in the Stillness there is the Knowing

and in the Knowing there is renewal

and surrender

and in the surrender there is grace

to re-enter the fray

to live and fight another day

and in the grace

the sweet remembrance of our communion

and the promise of Your keeping

until I come hurtling

desperate again

into the Stillness

© Cheryl McGrath, Bread for the Bride, 2015 and beyond.   Copyright Notice: Permission is granted to freely reproduce any Bread for the Bride articles in emails or internet blogs, unaltered, and providing this copyright notice is included.     To permanently display an article on any static website please contact me for permission.

Photo Credit: Wallaroo Images

12 thoughts on “Into The Stillness”

  1. Cheryl, I must have missed this when you posted it! It’s fab – so articulates it all.

    One question: The ‘cycle’ you describe…is it normal…..do we ever get over the fleshly struggling with busyness vs stillness? Anyone?

    And is indifference and lack of passion at times a problem for anyone else?

    In slight desperation/exasperation!

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    • Hi Karen,
      Wish I had the answers….I don’t! Is the cycle of distraction and running back into His arms normal? I think it is a normal part of growth, but I’m not there yet. All I can say is there is grace, and more grace, even when we feel indifferent and lack passion. He knows how to keep us, even though we don’t know how to keep ourselves. This is a journey, but the journey doesn’t go on forever….it has a destination. We are journeying together into the fullness of Christ. The Holy Spirit is our companion and comforter. The Father awaits. It will be worth it!

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  5. Wow, Cheryl. You have so well described my present inner struggles right now. The Lord is drawing me back to a deeper and more regular place of intimacy with Him, which the busyness of this life so constantly wars against. Thank you for articulating that struggle and also the wonderful peace and consolation that His Presence brings in the Stillness.

    I’m presently reading through The Autobiography of Madame Guyon and it is “wrecking” me. Her inner devotion to Christ, love for the personal working of the cross, and abandonment to God is redefining my spiritual world. If you haven’t read it, or her Short and Easy Meathod of Prayer, you would be greatly blessed.

    Thanks for sharing your heart through this poetic piece. It was very timely!

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    • David, it is good to hear from you my friend. He knows how to touch us in the deepest place of our need, doesn’t He? I have not read a great deal of Madam Guyon but will see what I can do about that. Rich blessings to you.
      CM

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  6. wow awesomely beautiful and inspiring! oh how we need to be constantly reminded that there is a place in the “stillness” tx”

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