In his poem, The Pulley, George Herbert imagines that after bestowing many gifts on mankind, God considers that a life of ease would not be something he should grant us. He portrays that an easy life, one without toil and struggle, would only cause us to worship the gifts rather than the Giver, and that our weakness and our weariness may force us to rely on God.

‘For if I should,’ said He,
‘Bestow this jewel also on My creature,
He would adore My gifts instead of Me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:
So both should losers be.

Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness:
Let him be rich and weary, then at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to My breast.’