© 1994-2017, Scott Sperling
Faith and a Solid Demeanor
“Some men are like the leaves of a tree, which every wind sets a-shaking and
trembling; or like a bone out of joint, which a man cannot stir without pain: if the
world do but frown upon them, you may see it in their faces, they are quite
dejected with sorrow. Oh, how heavy presently are their hearts, as if they had lost
their heaven! It is to be feared that bough is rotten, which breaketh if but a little
weight be hung upon it. A godly man should be like a rock, immovable, though
high winds and boisterous waves of providence blow and beat upon him; and like
a die, however he be thrown, always to fall upon a square. The traveller need not
murmur, though his inn afford him but mean fare, and a hard bed, when he
knoweth that he must be gone next morning. The ox is not happier, which hath
two or three mountains to graze on, than the bee which feedeth upon that dew
which falleth daily from the storehouse of heaven. If thou hast secured thine
everlasting estate, the boundless God is thy portion, and surely then thou mayest
be like a spring full, under the most scorching providence.”
-- George Swinnock (1627-1673)