faults, which they can neither foresee nor avoid. Does God
then leave souls which confide in Him? Surely not. Sooner would He work
a miracle to hinder them from falling, if they were resigned enough to
Him. They may be resigned as to the general will, and yet fail as to
the present moment. Being out of the order of God, they fall. They
renew such falls as long as they continue out of that divine order.
When they return into it, all goes right and well.

Most assuredly if such souls were faithful enough, not to let any of
the moments of the order of God slip over, they would not thus fall.
This appears to me as clear as the day. As a dislocated bone out of the
place in which the economy of divine wisdom had fixed it, gives
continual pain till restored to its proper order, so the many troubles
in life come from the soul not abiding in its place, and not being
content with the order of God, and what is afforded therein from moment
to moment. If men rightly knew this secret, they would all be fully
content and satisfied. But alas! instead of being content with what
they have, they are ever wishing for what they have not; while the
soul, which enters into divine light begins to be in paradise. What is
it that makes paradise? It is the order of God, which renders all the
saints infinitely content, though very unequal in glory! From whence
comes it that so many poor indigent persons are so contented, and that
princes and potentates, who abound to profusion, are so wretched and
unhappy? It is because the man who is not content with what he has,
will never be without craving desires; and he who is the prey of an
unsatisfied desire, can never be content.

All souls have more or less of strong and ardent desires, except those
whose will is lost in the will of God. Some have good desires, so as to
suffer martyrdom for God; others thirst for the salvation of their
neighbor, and some pant to see God in glory. All this is excellent. But
he who rests in the divine will, although he may be exempt from all
these desires, is infinitely more content, and glorifies God more. It
is written concerning Jesus Christ, when he drove out of the temple
those who profaned it. "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." John
2:17. It was in that moment of the order of God, that these words had
their effect. How many times had Jesus Christ been in the temple
without such a conduct? Does not He occasionally say of Himself, that
His hour was not yet c