Fourteen Points of Consolation, Chapter 3
The third chapter of the third conſideration, which is of the euill paſt or behind vsus.
HErein more then in ye reſt notably ſhineth the ſweete mercye of God the father, which is able to comfort vsus in all our diſtreſſe. VVe shall then chiefly perceiue the goodnes of God toward vsus, & the care which he hath ouer vsus, when we cōſider our life paſt.For eueryevery man neuer feeleth the hand of God more preſent vponupon him, then when he calleth to minde the yeares of his life paſt. Sainct Auguſtine ſaith: If a man ſhould chooſe either to dye, or to leade againe his life paſt, he would chooſe rather to die, conſidering ſo great perills & euils, which he hath ſcarce and hardely auoided. Which ſaying is moſt true, if it be well & duely weyed. For here a man may ſee, how often he hath without his owne ſtudye, without his owne care, yea without and contrary to his deſire, done and ſuffered many thinges, whereof he did not ſo much as thinke before they were done, or in doing, that the worke being ended, he is then firſt compelled to ſay: Howe hath it come to paſſe that I hauehave done theſe thinges, which I did not thinke on, or thought of other thinges? ſo that the prouerbe is true: Man purpoſeth, but God diſpoſeth, that is, altereth, and bringeth to paſſe an other thinge then man purpoſeth, that euen in this one thinge we can not denie, that our life and actions are gouerned & directed, not by our owne wiſedom, but by the maruelous power, counſel, & goodnes of God. Hereby we perceiue howe often God hath bene wt vsus, when we neither ſaw nor felt it, and how truely Peter ſayd: Caſt all your care on him, for he careth for you.
Wherfore if there were no bookes nor ſermons, yet our life it ſelfe led through ſo many euills and perills, if it be well conſidered, doth abundātly commend the goodnes of God to be preſent with vsus, & moſt ſweete vntounto vsus, who hath farre otherwiſe then we either thought or felt, borne vsus as it were in his boſome, and as Moſes ſayth Deut. 32: The Lord hath kept him as the apple of his eye, he hath led him about, and caried him on his ſhoulders. And hereunon came thoſe ſayinges in the Pſalter: I remember the time paſt, I meditate in all thy works, yea I do meditate in the works of thy handes: I will remember the wonders of olde: And againe: I remembred thy iudgements of old, VVe ought greatly to be comforted in the preſent euil when we cō ſider from how many euills God hath preſerued vsus in our life paſtand hauehave bene comforted. All theſe and ſuch like tende to this ende, that we ſhould knowe, that if we ſee that God was then preſent with vsus, when we did not thinke thereof, neither he did ſeeme to be preſent, we ſhoulde not doubt that he is nowe alſo preſent, when he ſeemeth vntounto vsus to be abſent. For he that protected and preſerued vsus in many neceſſities without our owne care or thinkinge thereof, he I ſaye will not forſake vsus in a ſmall matter although he ſeeme to forſake vsus, according as he ſayth in Eſai: A litle while hauehave I forſaken thee, but with great mercifulnes ſhall I take thee vntounto me. Hereunto thou mayſt adde: Who hath had care of vsus ſo many nightes when we flept? who was carefull for vsus as often as we labored, plaied, and did infinite other things, wherein we were nothing carefull for our ſelues?
So we ſee how al our care, whether we will or no, VVhy God leaueth vsus ſometime to our owne care, he him ſelfe ſeeming not to care for vsus.muſt be referred to God alone, we being very ſeldom left to our owne coū ſell or care, which notwithſtanding ye Lord ſometime doth, that he may teach vsus to acknowledge his goodnes, that we may perceiue howe muche difference there is betweene his care and ours. Wherefore he ſometime ſuffereth ſome light ſicknes or other euil to come vntounto vsus, making ſemblance yt he hath no care of vsus (for in deede there is no time whē he careth not for vsus) notwithſtanding he doth in the meane ſeaſon prohibit & let, that ſo many euils as are ready to aſſaile vsus, do not together on eueryevery ſide come violētly vponupon vsus, that he may try vsus as moſt deare children whether we will commit our ſelues to his care being knowne of vsus through all ye reſt of our life, & marke how vnprofitable & impotent our owne care is. For what doe we profit our ſelues, or what cā we profit our ſelues in al our life, who in a litle while can not cure & remedie one onelyonly payne of the legge?
Why then are we ſo careful in the point of one perill or euill, and doe not leaue the care to him, when as our life it ſelfe being witnes, we are kept and preſerued in ſo many euills without our owne labour or trauel? To know & duely to conſider theſe things, is to know ye works of God, to meditate in his workes, & by ye remembrance of them to be comforted in aduerſitie and troubles: But they that are ignorant hereof ſhall fall into that which is mentioned Pſal. 29. Becauſe they hauehave not vnderſtood the workes of the Lord, nor the operation of his handes, thou ſhalt breake them downe, and not build them vp. For they are vnthankful for all the care which God hath taken for them in all their life, who do not commit the care of them ſelues to him for a litle while.