The excellency of holy courage in evil times by Jeremiah Burroughs

Seventhly, Yet further Faith helps through great difficulties, because it doth remove and cure the difficulties that are within the spirits of men and women, and if these be taken away, external difficulties have little in them, we complain of many difficulties in a work without, whenas indeed the greatest difficulties are within in our hearts, and faith hath a special efficacy for removing and curing of them; As now unruly passions are great hinderances to any work that we undertake, faith hath a mighty power in curing of them. And likewise distracting fears, (but of that before) And the reasoning of flesh and blood have a mighty deal of power to make a work difficult, and great care is to be had in curing of them: And the lumpish deadness of our spirits, And the base sluggishness of our hearts, And the base ends that a man hath: faith cures them, and cleanses the heart of them, And so foolish presumptions that people have and their false confidences, and resting upon rotten props, these and divers others may be named which are inward difficulties that faith helps against, and by removing of them doth easily overcome any difficulty that is without, therefore when you have any work which is hard, look not so much for the removing the difficulties that are without ⟨p. 143⟩as the difficulties that are within.

Seventhly, Yet further Faith helps through great difficulties, because it doth remove and cure the difficulties that are within the spirits of men and women, and if these be taken away, external difficulties have little in them, we complain of many difficulties in a work without, whenas indeed the greatest difficulties are within in our hearts, and faith hath a speciall efficacy for removing and curing of them; As now unruly passions are great hinderances to any worke that we undertake, faith hath a mighty power in curing of them. And likewise distracting fears, (but of that before) And the reasoning of flesh and blood have a mighty deal of power to make a work difficult, and great care is to be had in curing of them: And the lumpish deadness of our spirits, And the base sluggishness of our hearts, And the base ends that a man hath: faith cures them, and cleanses the heart of them, And so foolish presumptions that people have and their false confidences, and resting upon rotten props, these and divers others may be named which are inward difficulties that faith helps against, and by removing of them doth easily overcome any difficulty that is without, therefore when you have any work which is hard, look not so much for the removing the difficulties that are without