…I went, directed by Heaven no doubt; for in this chest I found a cure both for soul and body. 

I opened the chest, and found what I looked for…I took out one of the Bibles…which to this time I had not found leisure  or inclination to look into. 

  …I took up the Bible and began to read; but my head was too much disturbed…to bear reading…only, having opened the book casually, the first words that appeared to me were:

 “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

These words were very apt to my case, and made   some impression upon my thoughts at the time of reading them, though not so much as they did afterwards;

for, as for being delivered, the word had no sound, as I may say, to me; the thing was so  remote, so impossible in my apprehension…

  …so I began to say, “Can God Himself deliver me from this place?” 

…but, however, the words made a great impression on me, and I thought upon them very often.  It now grew late…I inclined to sleep…

But before I lay down, I did what I never had done in all my life — I kneeled down, and prayed to God to fulfill the promise to me, that if I called upon Him in the day of trouble, He would deliver me.

    …I fell into a sound sleep, and waked no more till, by the sun, it must necessarily be near three o’clock in the afternoon the next day…when I awaked I found  myself exceedingly refreshed, and my spirits lively and cheerful…

I did not recover my full strength for some weeks after this.

  While I was thus gathering strength, my thoughts ran exceedingly on this Scripture, “I will deliver you”; and the impossibility of my deliverance lay much on my mind…

but as I was discouraging myself with such thoughts, it occurred to my mind that I dwelt  so much on my deliverance from the main affliction, that I disregarded the deliverance I had received, and I was as it were made to ask myself such questions as these: 

Have I not been delivered, and wonderfully too, from sickness — from the most distressed condition that  could be, and that was so frightful to me? 

What notice had I taken of it?

Had I done my part?  God had delivered me, but I had not glorified Him – that is to say, I had not admitted and been thankful for that as a deliverance; and how then could I expect greater deliverance?

This touched my heart very much; and immediately I knelt down and gave God thanks aloud for my  recovery from my sickness.

I learned to look more upon the bright side of my condition, and less upon the dark side, and to consider what I enjoyed, rather than what I lacked:

and this gave me sometimes such secret comforts, that I cannot express them; and which I take notice of here, to put those discontented people in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what God has given them, because they see and covet something that He has not given them. 

All our discontent about what we do not have, appeared to me to spring from our lack of thankfulness for what we do have.

And I add this part here, to hint to whoever shall read it, that whenever they come to a true sense of things, they will find deliverance from sin a much greater blessing than deliverance from affliction.

 From this moment I began to conclude in my mind that it was possible for me to be more happy in this forsaken, solitary condition than it was possible I should ever have been in any other particular state in the world;

and with this thought I was going to give thanks to God for bringing me to this place.

I have since often observed, how incongruous and irrational the common temper of mankind is, especially of youth…

…that they are not ashamed to sin, and yet are ashamed to repent; not ashamed of the action for which they ought justly to be esteemed fools,

but are ashamed of the returning, which only can make them be esteemed wise men.

It is never too late to be wise.