Be Still, My Soul

Be still, my soul, the Lord is on your side. Bear patiently, the cross of grief or pain. Leave to your God, to order and provide. In every change He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul, your best your heavenly friend, through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. Be still, my soul, your God will undertake to guide the future as he has the past. Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake. All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul, the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while he lived below. Be still, my soul, be still, my soul, be still.

This is a song by Ginny Owens. I think it's cool to see it like it's just a normal paragraph instead of a song. I like the line about the waves and winds still knowing His voice. It's interesting to think that those same winds and waves are here today that were calmed by Jesus himself 2000 years ago. There's something really intimate about this song. Knowing His voice is like knowing a whisper.

Oddly enough (and yes, this is a weird twist), it made me think of Oryx and Crake. In the book, Crake fiddles with genetics, mixing our patterns with other animals, to create a "perfect" new human race, who are called Crakers. Somehow, Craker men can smell when a Craker woman is ovulating, and they all sing to her. Then it made me think of God singing. God who doesn't only order and provide, but sings and makes perfect beautiful music.

It seems no matter how far I think I've come, I always come back to and struggle with the idea that God is really pursuing me, that I am not abandoned and never will be, that he's really after my heart, not my work, not my friends, not my skills, not my security, not my family, not my beauty. Although giving Him my heart would lead to all of that being given to Him, there's a difference between Him trying to get those things and trying to get me, and for no other apparent reason than He loves me and wants a better heart for me because I am His and He is mine.

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." - Ezekiel 36:26