“When tribulations come upon you: look to that sovereign Lord, that commisionates and sends them upon you. You know troubles do not rise out of the dust, nor spring out of the ground, but are framed in heaven, Jeremiah 38:11. Troubles and afflictions are of the Lord’s framing and devising, to reduce his wandering people to himself. In the frame of your afflictions you may observe much of divine wisdom in the choice, measure, and season of your troubles: sovereignty, in electing the instruments of your affliction; in making them as afflictive as he pleaseth; and in making them obedient both to his call, in coming and going, when he pleaseth. Now, could you in times of trouble look up to this sovereign hand, in which your souls, bodies, and all their comforts and mercies are; how quiet would your heart be! Oh, when we have to do with men, and look no higher how do our spirits swell and rise with revenge and impatience! But if you once come to see, that man as a rod in your Father’s hand, you will be quiet.”
“Be still, and know that I am God;” Psalms 46: 10, q.d. consider with whom you have to do; not with your fellow but with your God, who can puff you to destruction with one blast of his mouth; in whose hand you are, as the clay in the potter’s hand. It is for want of looking up to God in our troubles, that we fret, murmur, and despond at the rate we do.”
Flavel, John. The Works of. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1997. 364-65. 6 vols. Print.
