All this while God has not left the sinner, nor is come to the end of
his patience towards him, but stands at least with the door of grace
a-jar in his hand, as being loth as yet to bolt it against him.

4. Art thou followed with affliction, and dost thou hear God's angry
voice in thy afflictions? Doth he send with thy affliction an
interpreter to shew thee thy vileness; and why, or wherefore, the
hand of God is upon thee, and upon what thou hast; to wit, that it is
for thy sinning against him, and that thou mightest be turned to him?
If so, thy summer is not quite ended; thy harvest is not quite over
and gone. Take heed, stand out no longer, lest he cause darkness,
and lest thy feet stumble upon the dark mountains; and lest, while
you look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it
gross darkness; Jer. viii. 20; chap. xiii. 15-17.

5. Art thou crossed, disappointed, and way-laid, and overthrown in
all thy foolish ways and doings? This is a sign God has not quite
left thee, but that he still waits upon thee to turn thee. Consider,
I say, has he made a hedge and a wall to stop thee? Has he crossed
thee in all thou puttest thy hand unto? Take it as a call to turn to
him, for, by his thus doing, he shews he has a mind to give thee a
better portion. For usually when God gives up men, and resolves to
let them alone in the broad way, he gives them rope, and lets them
have their desires in all hurtful things; Hos. ii. 6-15; Psalm
lxxiii. 3-13; Rom. xi. 9.

Therefore take heed to this also, that thou strive not against this
hand of God; but betake thyself to a serious inquiry into the causes
of this hand of God upon thee, and incline to think, it is because
the Lord would have thee look to that, which is better than what thou