ved, in Romans vii, when after complaining that he did not
the good that he would, but the evil that he would not, [Rom.
7:19] he cried out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver
me the body of this death? The grace of God," [18] he answers,
"through Jesus Christ."

That man loves God his Father but little, who does not prefer the
evil of dying to this evil of sinning. For God has appointed
death, that this evil might come to an end, and that death might
be the minister of life and righteousness, of which more
below.[19]

CHAPTER III

THE THIRD IMAGE

THE PAST EVIL, OR THE EVIL BEHIND US

In this image, above all others, the sweet mercy of God our
Father shines forth, able to comfort us in every distress. For
never does a man feel the hand of God more closely upon him than
when he calls to mind the years of his past life. St. Augustine
says: "If a man were set before the choice either of dying or of
living his past life over, it is certain that he would choose to
die, seeing the many perils and evils which he had so hardly
escaped." This is a very true saying, if it be rightly pondered.

Here a man may see how often he has done and suffered many
things, without any exertion or care of his own, nay, without and
against his wish; of which things he took so little thought
before they came to pass, or while they were taking place, that,
only after all was over, he found himself compelled to exclaim in
great surprise: "Whence have all these things come to me, when I
never gave them a thought, or when I thought of something very
different?" So that the proverb is true, "Man proposeth, but God
disposeth"; [Prov. 16:9] that is, God turns things about, and
brings to pass something far different from that which man
proposes. Therefore, from this consideration alone, it is
impossible for us to deny that our life and all our actions are
under the direction, not of our own prudence, but of the
wonderful power, wisdom, and goodness of God. Here we see how
often God was with us when we knew it not, and with what truth
Peter has said, "He careth for us all." [1 Peter 5:7]

Therefore, even if there were no books or tracts, yet our very
life itself, brought through so many evils and dangers, if we
will but consider it, abundantly commends to us the ever present
and most tender goodness of God, which, far above all that we
purposed or perceived, carried us as it were in its bosom. As
Moses says in Deuteronomy xxxii, "Th