The Art of Divine Contentment

2. Perhaps if thy estate had not been lost,¹ thy soul had been lost^*; outward comforts do often quench inward heat. God cannot bestow a jewel upon us, but we fall so in love with it, that we forget him that gave it; what pity is it that we should commit idolatry with the creature! God is forced sometimes to drain away an estate; the plate and jewels are often cast over-board to save the passenger. Many a man may curse the time that ever he had such an estate, it hath been an enchantment to draw away his heart from God. Some there are that will be rich^*, and they fall into a snare^*. Art thou troubled ⟨p. 69⟩that God hath prevented a snare? Riches are Thorns^*, art thou angry that God hath pulled a way a thorn from thee?⁶ Riches are compared to thick clay^*, Perhaps thy affections, which are the feet of the soul, might have stuck so fast in this golden clay that they could not have ascended up to heaven, be content; if God dam up our outward comforts, it is that the stream of our love may run faster another, way.

2. Perhaps if thy estate had not been lost,¹ thy soul had beene lost^*; outward comforts doe often quench inward heat. God cannot bestow a jewel upon us, but we fall so in love with it, that we forget him that gave it; what pity is it that we should commit idolatry with the creature! God is forc'd sometimes to draine away an estate; the plate and jewels are often cast over-board to save the passenger. Many a man may curse the time that ever he had such an estate, it hath been an enchantment to draw away his heart from God. Some there are that will be rich