Remain Where You Are

Obedience Learned in the Fire of Waiting

Lord my God

You who see the heart before it speaks

You have placed me in a narrow place

where there is no path forward

and no way back

only fire

I do not understand this waiting

but I offer it to You

as one who has nothing else to give

Strip me of the haste that is born of fear

and of the obedience that seeks reward

Do not allow my heart to make peace

with comfort or delay

If You have commanded me to remain

then remain with me

lest my waiting become empty

Let this fire teach me obedience

not with words

but with endurance

Do not let my desire scatter

or soften into excuses

or turn back toward what I have already renounced

Keep my heart awake

even when my body stands still

Teach me to follow You without knowing where

to love You without possessing You

to obey You without understanding You

If the door is closed

let it close upon my self will

If the years pass

let them pass over a heart

that belongs to You

And if You open the door

grant that I do not run

but enter quietly

as one who has already died

Do not take this fire from me

until it has taught me

to remain before You

without condition

For You are my path

my dwelling

and my rest

Amen.