"It is here that true abandonment and consecration to God should commence, by our being deeply convinced that all which happens to us moment by moment is the will of God, and therefore all that is necessary to us.
This conviction will render us contented with everything, and will make us see the commonest events in God, and not in the creature.
Abandonment is the key to the inner life: he who is thoroughly abandoned will soon be perfect."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)"Abandonment is the key to the inner life: he who is thoroughly abandoned will soon be perfect."
— Madame Guyon · One sentence. The whole of her teaching compressed into it.✦ The Word Behind Everything
Eight days with Guyon, and every day has been building toward this word. Prayer as the application of the heart — abandoning the intellect's demand to control. The bee resting on the flower — abandoning the rush to cover ground. The chewing that gives way to swallowing — abandoning the work to receive the nourishment. The fire that must not be blown — abandoning effort when grace has arrived. The dryness where God hides — abandoning the demand for consolation. Each day stripped away one more thing. Now Guyon names what was being stripped toward: abandonment itself.
"You must hold firmly to your abandonment, without listening to reason or to reflection. A great faith makes a great abandonment; you must trust wholly in God, 'contrary to hope, in hope believing' (Romans 4:18).
Abandonment is the casting off of all care of ourselves, to leave ourselves to be guided entirely by God."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)✦ The Scriptures Gathered
Guyon gathers four Scriptures into one argument — and Proverbs 3:6 returns. Bowen brought this verse on June 10 from Brioux-sur-Boutonne, the day the motorhome turned south. The blind man refusing to stir a step without his guide. Now Guyon holds the same verse and calls it abandonment. Two voices, two centuries, one truth.
Matthew 6:32, 34
"Do not worry about tomorrow, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." The need supplied — Philippians 4:19 from Bowen's tenth day. The Father who catches every trembling desire.
Proverbs 3:6
"In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." The blind man's refusal — Bowen's seventh day. Guyon calls it abandonment. In all your ways. Not some. All.
Psalm 37:5
"Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." The same psalm that promised the desires of the heart fulfilled — Psalm 37:4, the RL Journeys verse from February.
"Abandonment ought to be an utter leaving of ourselves, both outwardly and inwardly, in the hands of God, forgetting ourselves, and thinking only of God. By this means the heart is kept always free and contented.
Practically it should be a continual loss of our own will in the will of God, a renunciation of all natural inclinations, however good they may appear, in order that we may be left free to choose only as God chooses: we should be indifferent to all things, whether temporal or spiritual, for the body or the soul;
leaving the past in forgetfulness, the future to providence, and giving the present to God; contented with the present moment, which brings with it God's eternal will for us;
attributing nothing which happens to us to the creature, but seeing all things in God, and regarding them as coming unfailingly from His hand, with the exception only of our own sin.
Leave yourselves, then, to be guided by God as He will, whether as regards the inner or the outward life."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)"Leaving the past in forgetfulness, the future to providence, and giving the present to God."
— Madame Guyon · The present moment brings with it God's eternal will✦ The Present Moment
Not a single dramatic act of surrender. Continual. Daily. The cross of Luke 9:23 taken up again each morning. A continual loss of our own will in the will of God — renouncing even good inclinations, so that what remains is freedom to choose only as God chooses.
And the three divisions of time resolved: the past left in forgetfulness — it cannot be changed. The future left to providence — it cannot be controlled. And the present given to God — because this moment, this box, this room, this day, brings with it God's eternal will. Not tomorrow's moment. This one.
"Cast your cares on Him because He cares for you."