In Rest
Song Meaning
Travis Cottrell sets the God he has met in crisis against the God he struggles to trust in quiet in "In Rest" — "I've heard You in the thunder, I felt You in the rain, I've met You in the turmoil, I found You in the pain, but here in the stillness, when this moment, all is well, here I'm prone to wonder, hear my rebel tell." Calm, not chaos, is where his doubt actually shows up.
"Cure my heart of chasing whirlwinds, of needing earth to quake, of wrestling made up angels to keep myself away" names the specific habit of manufacturing drama rather than resting in what's already true. "There's passion in the stillness, there's fire in the cloud" insists ordinary quiet can hold as much of God as any storm.
"In stillness know that You are God, in rest You make me new" closes the song by echoing the psalmist's own command to be still, treating rest itself as the place where renewal happens.
I've heard You in the thunder
I felt You in the rain
I've met You in the turmoil
I found You in the pain
But here in the stillness
When this moment, all is well
Here I'm prone to wonder
Hear my rebel tell
Cure my heart of chasing whirlwinds
Of needing earth to quake
Of wrestling made up angels
To keep myself away
There's passion in the stillness
There's fire in the cloud
There's rest that brings a man to life
There's a voice that whispers loud
Hope in my restless wandering heart
To find its pulse in You
In stillness know that You are God
In rest You make me new