Cast Down? Diagnosing Spiritual Discouragement (7)

(4l) One special cause of much disquiet is the lack of firm resolution in good things. The soul cannot but be disquieted when it knows not what to cleave to, like a ship tossed by contrary winds. 'If God be God, cleave to him' (1 Kings 18:21). If the duties of religion bring peace of conscience, then with intention practice them in every passage of life. We should labour to have a clear judgment, and a resolved purpose. A wavering-minded man is inconsistent in all his ways (James 1:6). Uncertain men are always unquiet men, and giving too much way to passion makes men unsettled.
(5) Reasons that come from specific personal actions.
(5a) It breeds disquiet when men lay up their comfort too much on outward things, which are subject to much inconstancy and change. We are cast down by the disappointing of our hopes, as we were too much lifted up in expectation of good from them. From misplaced hopes proceed these complaints: A friend has failed me; I never thought to have fallen into this condition; I had set my joy in this child, in this friend, etc. But this is to build our comfort upon things that have no firm foundation. We should follow Agur's example and desire God ‘to remove from us vanity and lies' (Prov. 30:8). Confidence in vain things makes a vain heart. We may say of all earthly things as the prophet speaks, ‘here is not our rest' (Micah 2:10). It is no wonder that worldly men are often cast down and disquieted, when they walk in a vain shadow (Psa. 39:6). Men given much to recreations can be subject to passionate distempers because things fall out other than they looked for. Likewise, men that grasp more businesses than they can discharge bear both the blame and the grief of losing or marring many businesses, it being almost impossible to do many things well. It is the covetous and over-busy men that bring trouble both to their hearts and their houses.

Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Richard Sibbes 'Refreshment for the Soul.'
The Soul's Conflict with Itself, Works, vol. 1, p. 140
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