It is thy duty oftentimes to do what thou wouldst not; thy duty to leave undone what thou wouldst do.
That which pleaseth others shall go well forward; that which pleaseth thee shall not speed.
That which others say shall be heard; what thou sayest shall be accounted nothing; others shall ask and shall receive; thou shalt ask but shalt not obtain.
5. Others shall be great in the praise of men, but about thee there shall no word be.
To others this or that shall be committed, but thou shalt be accounted of no use.
At this nature will sometimes be troubled, and it is a great thing if thou bear it with silence.
In these and many such like things, the faithful servant of the Lord is wont to be tried, how far he can deny and break his will in all things.
There is scarcely any thing wherein thou hast such need to die to thyself, as in seeing and suffering those things that are contrary to thy will; especially when that is commanded to be done, which seemeth unto thee inconvenient, or useless.
And because thou being under authority darest not resist the higher power, therefore it seems hard to thee to walk at another's beck, and to give up all thine own will.
6. But consider, My son, the fruit of these labours, the end near at hand, and the reward exceeding great; and thou wilt not grudge to bear them: rather thou wilt have the strongest comfort of thy patience.
For instead of that little of thy will, which now thou so readily forsakest, thou shalt always have thy will in heaven.
