From a great deal of experience I have been allowed to learn that the Lord breaks no one [Is. 42:3], that is, does not take away a person's desires in a moment, but that He bends them in a wonderful way. For He permits everyone to entertain their passions, so that they may even increase and stretch out to a considerably great extent; and meanwhile, in a marvelous and unbeknown manner, He bends them, by very diverse methods, all depending on the nature and character of the individual. This I have been allowed to learn from a great deal of experience. And, to be sure, He does this pliantly, as if yielding to their freedom, yet not permitting them more than will allow Him to turn them aside from the extreme to which they have been carried away, toward their own good. How this takes place, and how cautiously and with Divine prudence, can be known to no one but him who is allowed to learn it from spirits and angels by experience. What different desires are imparted at that time, to temper his desires, what good feelings they are bent into, I could certainly discern very roughly, but no one knows but the Lord.