A Treasury
of
Madame Guyon
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- Banished from the presence of my Beloved, my Bridegroom, how
could I be happy! I could not find access to Him, and I certainly could not find rest out
of Him. I knew not what to do. I was like the dove out of the ark, which, finding no rest
for the sole of its foot, was constrained to return again, but, finding the window shot,
could only fly about without being able to enter.
- I henceforth take Jesus Christ to be mine. I promise to
receive Him as a husband to me. And I give myself to Him, unworthy though I am, to be His
spouse. I ask of Him, in this marriage of spirit with spirit, that I may be of the same
mind with Him¡Xmeek, pure,
nothing in myself, and united in God's will. And pledged as I am to be His, I accept, as a
part of my marriage portion, the temptations and sorrows, the crosses and the contempt,
which fell to Him.
- The misfortune is that people wish to direct God,
instead of resigning themselves to be directed by Him. They wish to take the lead
and to follow in a way of their own selection, instead of submissively and passively
following where God sees fit to conduct them. And hence it is that many souls, who are
called to the enjoyment of God Himself and not merely to the gifts of God,
spend all their lives in pursuing and in feeding on little consolation--resting in them as
in their place of delights, and making their spiritual life to consist in them.
- Oh how excellent are the crosses of Providence! All other
crosses are of no value.
- I did not wish to speak of my troubles to others, or to make
them known in any way. God had taught me to go to Him alone. There is nothing which makes
nature die so deeply and so quickly as to find and to seek no earthly support, no earthly
consolation.
- I was then, indeed, only like a dead person raised up, who
is in the beginning of his restoration, and raised up to a life of hope rather than of
actual possession; but on this day I was restored, as it were, to perfect life and set
wholly at liberty. I was no longer depressed, no longer borne down under the burden of
sorrow. I had thought God lost, and lost forever; but I found Him again.
- In Thee, O my God, I found it all and more than all! The
peace which I now possessed was all holy, heavenly, inexpressible. What I had possessed
some years before, in the period of my spiritual enjoyment, was consolation, peace¡Xthe gift of God rather than the
Giver; but now, I was brought into such harmony with the will of God, that I might now be
said to possess not merely consolation, but the God of consolation; not merely
peace, but the God of peace. This true peace of mind was worth all that I had
undergone, although it was then only in its dawning.
- My soul was not only brought into harmony with itself and
with God, but with God's providences. In the exercise of faith and love, I endured and
performed whatever came in God's providence-- in submission, in thankfulness, and silence.
I was now in God and God in me; and where God is, there is as much simplicity as power.
- Preach in a plain, simple manner, and let me add, that the
matter is still more important than the manner. Be careful what you preach, as well
as how you preach. Preach nothing but the gospel¡X the gospel of the kingdom of God. And it is exceedingly
desirable that you should preach it as a kingdom near at hand, as something not
great way off, but to be received and realized now. Aim at the heart.
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