The excellency of holy courage in evil times by Jeremiah Burroughs

USE, 3.

The third use is this: If Faith enables to carry through difficult works, then it can be no concluding argument against a work, because there fall out many hinderances in the work, for faith carries through nothing but that which is the work of God, and if it be to carry through hinderances, then hinderances and blocks in the way can be no concluding argument that this is not the work of God; this is our weakness, we set upon many works and before we begin we consider whether it be the work of God, and we have considered and consulted with God, and his people, and we find it is Gods work, and we begin to set upon it, and we would go on, and always think it Gods work if things went on well, but as soon as we find any let that stops us, we begin to call in question whether it were Gods work or no. It is true when we find any hinderances in our work, it should make us reflect our thoughts upon our call to it and see that be right; and further, it should make us humble our selves before God to take away whatsoever hinderance God should lay in our way out of any displeasure; for though God sometimes do lay hinderances as an honour to improve our graces, yet sometimes hinderances may be as chastisements to us; and therefore it is useful for to humble our souls before God, that we may have more assurance nothing is between God and us, and that our hinderances do not ⟨p. 151⟩come as a fruit of his displeasure, and the hinderances we meet withal should make us keep more close to the rule, because Faith will bear us out in nothing, but according as we go to the rule, and so we should improve hinderances to stir up our Faith: But to make hinderances, and hard things that fall out to be an argument to think it is not the work of God, that is a great evil: And for that I only speak this one thing, & that is the way of God towards Jacob in that work of his when God called him to go from Laban into his own country, You may read the story at your leisure, God from Heaven calls Jacob to go to that Journey: It was the work of God; Jacob might think it being Gods work I shall meet with no hardship: but if you read the story, you shall find it was one of the most hard Journeys that ever he undertook in his life as it appears by these six things.