“A quiet heart means confidence in God”.

A simple statement and a powerful truth from Elisabeth Elliot.  I recently found an old audio recording of Elisabeth and heard her talk about the significance of the state of our hearts.

If my heart is all frantic and questioning and unsettled, it doesn’t say much for my confidence in God.  It doesn’t say much about my belief in His ability to provide and protect.  It doesn’t say much about my belief in His sovereignty or His promises.

She tells the story of how as a college student in Illinois back in 1948, she penned these words:

Lord, give to me a quiet heart

That does not seek to understand.

But confident steps forward in

The darkness guided by Thy hand.

If you know any of Elisabeth Elliot’s story, you know the incredible loss she faced just a few years later after the violent death of her husband Jim at the hands of Indian tribes in Ecuador.  When she wrote this poem, she had no way of knowing what she was going to be asked to go through.  But did the truth of it change?  No.

Is it really possible be OK with not understanding?  Is it really possible to confidently step forward into the darkness?  When things are crazy and scary and make no sense, can I really keep a quiet heart?  Not if I’m trying to do it on my own.  But with that guiding hand from God and with the peace that only He can give…I can.

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  John 14:27

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:7