Rules How to Use the World, Chapter 10
CHAP. X.
The things of the World in the Want, or Loss of them, when Deny'd or Remov'd, Withheld or Withdrawn, not Given to us, or Taken from us, must be no matter of our Discontent.
THE Object of Impatience is something Positive, the Object of Discontent is something Privative; one arises from the presence of Evil, the other from the absence of Good; That, from suffering too much, This, from having too little; and Murmuring too often as an effect of both.
When Evils are upon us, we Murmur and Repine, as unwilling to bear them; and when the Good we either Desire, or Enjoy is withheld, or withdrawn, we complain as Undone, greatly lament their Loss (as Micah did Judg. 18. 24.the loss of his Idols) and send our Hearts away with them, and thereby become more Miserable in the Loss, then ever we were Happy in the Enjoyment of them, Reproach God, act contrary to our Duty, the principles of Nature, and Grace, and discover both our Pride and Folly by it.
We Reproach God.
None of our Mercies (no more than any of our Miseries) come by Chance; it is not Fortune, but God, that has a hand in all, who is a Law to himself, and cannot Erre; for, his Will is the Rule of his Justice, and by not submitting to it, we Reproach him: For we question his Soveraignty, and deny the Right he has to dispose of us as he pleases, and in effect say (as they to Moses and Aaron) Numb. 16. 3.that he takes too much upon him, and shall not be a God over us, we tax his Wisdom, and cast a Reproach of Folly upon his proceedings, as if he knew not (or not so well as our selves) what Condition is best for us, we impeach his Justice, as if he did us wrong, and kept back our due; and abuse his Goodness, for in effect we say, that either he has not done, or will not do good unto us; and that he has given us nothing, because not all that we would have, (wherein hast thou Mal. 1. 2.loved us!) And by all, offer the highest Affront and Indignity imaginable to him: For, as he is too Great to be resisted, so he is too Just to be question'd, too Good to be suspected, and too Wise to be instructed; for he is Infinite in Wisdom, and needs no Counsellor, Isa. 40. 13.his Soveraignty is uncontrolable, his Righteousness untaxable, his Wisdom unsearchable, and his Goodness unspeakable.
We are worse than Devils, if we think better of our selves, than of God.
We act contrary to our Duty; for,
It is as much our Duty to be Content under what we want, as to be thankful for what we have; and there is great reason we should, for our Miseries can never be so great, nor our Wants so many, but we have something to bless God for.
Any thing on this side Hell is Mercy.
We act contrary to the principles of Nature and Grace.
Of Nature.
For Nature is content with a little; at first a Cradle contents us, and at last, a little Earth for a Grave will suffice us. In the Womb (as is usually said) one Foot, in the Cradle three, and in the Grave six will serve, and therefore, betwixt the Womb and the Grave, a little should please, and content us.
A little is enough, too much may be a Snare.
Of Grace.
As Nature is content with a little, so Grace is with less, for the noblest part of it consists, in the Guidance of the Affections, that they may not be carried out to wrong Objects, nor inordinately, to them that are right and proper.
It is neither Nature nor Grace, but Lust that is Ravenous, and enlarges its desire as Hell.
We discover our Pride and Folly by it.
Our Pride.
Humility and Pride are like the two ends of the prospective Glass, one, magnifies the Object, the other, lessens it; Humility looks upon every thing given, more than Desert, Pride, on every thing as less; that, is content with Necessaries, this, is angry for want of Superfluities; that, desires but to live, this, to abound and be Wanton; that, is pleas'd with one, any, or the least Mercy, this, not with a thousand, nor with any, unless it has all, a little matter will put Pride upon the fret, all Discontent is a Child of Pride; for,
Therefore we are angry at Gods Will, when it Crosses ours, because we are proud, and would have our own.
Our Folly,
It is one thing to have Riches, another thing not to want them; we may want them, while we have Avaro deest tam quod habet quam quod non habet.them, by not being content with them; and be without them and yet not need them, by our not desiring them; we are Rich, not by possessing much, for we are poor in the midst of all, unless we are satisfy'd, but Rich, by needing nothing; for though poor, 2 Cor. 6. 10.we are Rich, if we are contented; it is Contentment that gives Riches, for it gives enough, and not to have much, or to desire no more is true Riches, but Riches cannot give Contentment, no more than Poverty can; they will rather increase our Desires, than abate or restrain them; and therefore it is Folly to seek it in them, nor can we by our Discontent, either recal what we have lost, or procure what we would have, and therefore, as great Folly it is, to be disquieted at the loss or want of them. A Dwarf, by vexing or fretting cannot raise himself to a greater height in his Body, though he may in his Mind; (not add a Cubit to his Stature, though he may to his Pride); nor any by their Discontent or Frowardness, when under Want, or Pain, either supply or ease it, and therefore, the highest Folly it is to attempt it.
The only way to have our Will is to be satisfy'd that God has his.
We have not the fee simple of outward Blessings, they are not entailed upon us, but only lent for a while. The Tenure we hold them by, is the good Pleasure of God the Donor, who is our Benefactor, not our Debtor; he will call for them again, and may (without any Injustice) whenever he please, and often does, that we may receive all as new Gifts from him again, and be brought to a humble acknowledgement of him as our only Lord, and thankfulness to him, for the Loan of them.
God cannot give us so little, nor so short a Possession of it as we deserve.
God is infinitely Wise, and knows what condition is best for us, he is our Heavenly Father, and knows what Food to appoint, our Heavenly Physician, and knows what Physick to prescribe, our highest Wisdom therefore, will be to acquiesce in his, as willing to want, what he sees good to deny; and to suffer, what he sees fit to inflict: In every thing giving Thanks, viz. when poor, as well as when Rich; when empty, as well as when full.
Every wheel moves according to the motion of the first, and all things move orderly above, how cross so ever they seem to move here below.
God withdraws the lesser lights, that we may behold the Sun; cuts off the Pipes that we may bathe in the Fountain; straitens us in this World, that we may be enlarged Jam. 2. 5.towards Heaven; makes 2 Cor. 6. 10.us Poor, that he may enrich us; empties, that he may fill; denies, that he may give unto us; makes us sorrowful, that we may find joy in him; and leaves nothing, that in him we may possess all things, yea Inherit them, which is Rev. 21. 7.more than to possess them. Our Wisdom therefore will be to submit to him, and not by Discontent to attempt the frustrating of his ends, lest he disappoint ours.
It is better to lose all the good things of Life, than Godliness; 2 Pet. 1. 3.yea Life it self, then either lose God, or abate in our Love to him.
The Heathen said, if Jupiter would give him Riches, he himself would procure a contented Mind; Ego animum mihi aequum parabobut Contentment is no more natural to us, than Happiness; nor to be found in our selves, nor any where without pains and difficulty. It is a Degree beyond Patience, the Quintessence of it, and harder to come by than Riches; for when we have them, we are many times as far to seek for Contentment, as we were before we had them.
St. Paul learnt this Mystery in Christs School not in Gamaliel's; and the most likely way to find it, is to seek it in Religion; for, Godliness is great Gain with Contentment, Phil. 4. 11. 1 Tim. 6. 6, 7.not, that the Gain of Godliness does depend upon the condition of our Contentment (though indeed there is little or no Religion without it) but that Contentment is an effect of Religion, an overplus that comes in with all the Gain that it gives besides, (and becomes gain to us as it gives it) it has the Promise of Life that now is, and of that which is to come, and interests us in God, in whom, every thing desireable in an eminent way is to be found; enough, when all outward Mercies are gone, for he is vertually Habet omnia qui habet habentem omnia.all, and better than all.
All is not gone (was said of old) if Caesar is safe, nor any thing if God is ours.
Only this we must remember, that God will never be all unto us, until all without him be as nothing; for if he must be all, then first all must be nothing.
The Loadstone draws not where the Adamant is.
There was a time when we had nothing; no Money in our Hands, nor Meat in our Mouths, nor any Cloaths on our Backs, we came Naked, and empty-handed into the World, and after a little while it will be so again. A little is enough while we are here, more than we brought with us into the World, or shall carry away; and would we but consider, that the World was made of nothing, and will ere long be turn'd into its first nothing; that we brought nothing into it, and shall carry away nothing out of it, we would not be much disquieted at the want of any thing, but as careful for nothing, be content with any thing.Phil. 4. 6.
Betwixt nothing and nothing a little may serve the turn.
FINIS.