Anxiety

 

"One of the marks of Christian maturity which a believer should seek is an acquiescence in the Lord's will founded in a persuasion of His wisdom, holiness, sovereignty, & goodness...So far as we attain to this, we are secure from disappointment. Our own limited views, & short-sighted purposes & desires, may be, & will be, often over-ruled; but then our main & leading desire, that the will of the Lord may be done, must be accomplished.

How highly does it become us, both as creatures & as sinners, to submit to the appointments of our Maker! and how necessary is it to our peace!
This great attainment is too often unthought of, & over-looked; we are prone to fix our attention upon the second causes & immediate instruments of events; forgetting that whatever befalls us is according to His purpose, & therefore must be right & seasonable in itself, & shall in the issue be productive of good.

From hence arise impatience, resentment, & secret repinings (complainings), which are not only sinful, but tormenting; whereas, if all things are in His Hand, if the very hairs of our head are numbered; if every event, great & small, is under the direction of His providence & purpose; & if He has a wise, holy, & gracious end in view, to which everything that happens is subordinate & subservient;-then we have nothing to do, but with patience & humility to follow as He leads, & cheerfully to expect a happy issue...

How happy are they who can resign all to Him, see His Hand in every dispensation, & believe that He chooses better for them than they possibly could for themselves!"

John Newton

If only I had learned this before now!
And can I?
Only in spite of me & through His mercy.