A Little Bird Am I
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (II Cor. 3:17).
Madame Guyon (1648-1717) was a troublemaker! Leading Bible studies and teaching on prayer during the Golden Age of French history, this little woman was such a threat that Louis XIV threw her in prison for seven years! Not only the king, but the most powerful churchman of the day, Bishop Bossuet, with the help of the pope, conspired to silence this dangerous woman. Thanks be to God, their efforts failed, and the blessed influence of this dead, white, European female is still being felt in the lives of many Christians scattered over the world today.
One way to measure the influence of Madame Guyon is by looking at a list of the spiritual giants who have acknowledged their debt to this amazing woman; men such as Count Zinzendorf, George Fox, Hudson Taylor, Charles Spurgeon, Watchman Nee, A. W. Tozer, and many more. Her influence was profound in shaping the spirituality of German Pietism, Methodism, Baptists, the Quakers, and a variety of Deeper Life movements, including the Holiness Movement. John Wesley dared to claim that she was “the greatest Christian to rise since the first century.”
Born into a wealthy French family in 1648, Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Mothe was forced by her father to marry a rich man who was much older (Jacques Guyon). Not only was the marriage unhappy but a series of calamities fell upon young Madame Guyon. Smallpox left her disfigured, robbing her of her beauty. Several children died in rapid succession. Financial misfortune and a domineering mother-in-law made a bad situation even worse. When her husband died suddenly when she was only 27 years of age, she began to pursue a life of devotion to God and ministry to others.
Madame Guyon wrote prolifically, focusing especially on inward prayer, abandonment to God, and the need to be cleansed from all forms of self-interest. At a popular level, she was pejoratively labeled an “enthusiast”. Historically, she is associated with a mystical tradition called “Quietism”. Her books spread like wildfire, attracting the attention of the most powerful ecclesiastical figures of the day. Some of her writings were condemned as heretical by officials in the Roman Catholic Church.
François Fénelon, the archbishop of Cambrai, became acquainted with Madame Guyon and, through her influence, was led into a deeper Christian experience. He was a rising star in the court of Louis XIV and in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. But when Bishop Bossuet began to publicly attack Madame Guyon and to declare her teachings false, Fénelon rose to her defense. Bossuet, with the help of the king and the pope, gained the upper hand politically, and Fénelon was demoted and cut off from the inner circles of power. He continued, however, to defend the mystical theology that Madame Guyon promoted and remained her friend to the end. It was during this time of conflict that Madame Guyon was imprisoned in the notorious Bastille from 1698-1702, where she lived in solitary confinement.1 Upon release, she was exiled to the city of Blois, where she lived until her death.
With a desire to allow you to hear the voice of Madame Guyon for yourself, I have included some quotes taken from various books she wrote. The poem at the end is one of my all-time favorites. Enjoy!
(After my smallpox), I became curious about my appearance and asked for a mirror. I saw that God had given me what I asked for, taking away my beauty… I was thankful God had taken away my source of pride. (Autobiography).
But few are willing to die to self. As soon as the sea is ruffled, they abandon the voyage. Self-love spoils all. (Autobiography).
I fear more the reproach of my conscience than of the condemnation of all men! (Autobiography).
As the air rushes to a vacuum, so God fills the soul emptied of self. (Letters).
I rejoice very much in the progress of your soul. When I speak of progress, it is in descending, not in mounting. (Letters).
You must utterly believe that everything that has happened to you is from God and is exactly what you need. (A Short and Easy Method of Prayer).
There are, in fact, only two truths… everything else is a lie. God is all; you are nothing. (A Short and Easy Method of Prayer).
He who does not love the cross does not love the things of God…. God gives us the cross, and then the cross gives us God. (A Short and Easy Method of Prayer).
A Christian’s progress into God should be measured by his separation from self. (Final Steps in Christian Maturity).
A Little Bird Am I
A little bird am I,
Shut out from fields of air;
And in my cage I sit and sing
To Him who placed me there.
Well pleased a prisoner to be,
Because, my God, it pleases Thee.
Naught have I else to do;
I sing the whole day long;
And He whom most I love to please,
Does listen to my song:
He caught and bound my wandering wing,
And still He bends to hear me sing.
My cage confines me round;
Abroad I cannot flee;
But though my wing is closely bound,
My heart’s at liberty;
For prison walls cannot control
The flight, the freedom of the soul.
Oh, it is good to soar
These bolts and bars above,
To Him whose purpose I adore,
Whose providence I love.
And in His mighty will to find
The joy, the freedom, of the mind.
1 Some believe that Madame Guyon was in the Bastille at the same time as the “prisoner in the iron mask”, rumored to be the twin brother of Louis XIV, whom the king had imprisoned lest he should one day usurp the throne.
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