To the end the Soul may attain to the supreme internal peace, it is necessary, that God purge it after his way, because the exercises and mortifications that of it self it sets about, are not sufficient. Thou'lt never attain to this happy state, though thou tire thy self out with the external acts of mortifications and resignation, until this Lord purge thee inwardly, and discipline thee, after his own way, because he alone knows how secret faults are to be purged out. God will do all this in thy Soul by means of the cross, and dryness, if thou freely giveth thy consent to it by resignation, and walking through those darksom and desart ways.
All thou hast to do, is to do nothing by thy own choice alone.
The husbandman sets a greater esteem upon the plants which he sows in the ground, than those that spring up of themselves, because these never come to seasonable maturity. It concerns thee only then, to prepare thine heart, like clean paper, wherein the divine wisdom may imprint characters to his own liking. O how great a work will it be for thy Soul to be whole hours together in Prayer, dumb, resigned, and humble, without acting, knowing, or desiring to understand any thing. This document is from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library at Calvin College. Last updated on May 27, 1999.