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Enjoying God Blog

Although I’ve read Desiring God by John Piper at least half a dozen times, I continue to be strengthened, edified, and encouraged by choice nuggets of truth from its vast treasure trove of biblical insights. Such was the case on October 31, Reformation Day, as I read the daily installment of Solid Joys, quotes taken from many of Piper’s works. Continue reading . . .

Although I’ve read Desiring God by John Piper at least half a dozen times, I continue to be strengthened, edified, and encouraged by choice nuggets of truth from its vast treasure trove of biblical insights. Such was the case on October 31, Reformation Day, as I read the daily installment of Solid Joys, quotes taken from many of Piper’s works.

I was instantly struck by the opening sentence in that day’s devotional, and the more I reflect on it the more I’m persuaded that it holds the key not only to surviving but thriving in the midst of heartache and hurts and struggles that we face daily. Piper cites Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 12:9 – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Actually, these are the words of Christ spoken to Paul following the apostle’s repeated plea that his “thorn in the flesh” be removed. Here is Piper’s comment:

“This is God’s universal purpose for all Christian suffering: more contentment in God and less satisfaction in self and the world.”

Let’s stop for a moment and think about that. The single greatest threat to our confidence in the goodness of God is suffering. When it hits home, and hits home hard, pain has the power to turn us away from God, to provoke in us doubts about whether God can be trusted with our lives. We wonder why a kindhearted and compassionate God would let suffering come our way. Doesn’t he love us? Aren’t we his children? Hasn’t he forgiven us of our sins? If so, why do we suffer so intensely?

Piper’s answer (excuse me, Paul’s answer) would be grandiose and insensitive if it weren’t true. But it is true, and if we don’t recognize and receive its truth there is little hope that suffering will achieve its divine design in our lives. So look at it again:

“This is God’s universal purpose for all Christian suffering: more contentment in God and less satisfaction in self and the world.”

Piper continues his explanation by pointing out that

“in our sufferings the glory of Christ’s all-sufficient grace is magnified. If we rely on him in our calamity and he sustains our ‘rejoicing in hope,’ then he is shown to be the all-satisfying God of grace and strength that he is. If we hold fast to him ‘when all around our soul gives way,’ then we show that he is more to be desired than all we have lost. Christ said to the suffering apostle, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Paul responded to this: ‘Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong’ (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

We see from Christ’s words to Paul and Paul’s words to us that contrary to what human reason or the perspective of society might think, there is a “divine design” in our suffering. Our hardships and heartaches are designed by God “not only as a way to wean Christians off of self and onto grace, but also as a way to spotlight that grace and make it shine. That is precisely what faith does; it magnifies Christ’s future grace.”

And what does Piper conclude from this? Only that “the deep things of life in God are discovered in suffering.”

So let us labor in God’s grace not to lose sight of what God is up to when suffering comes our way. Don’t write it off as bad luck or a sign that God has forever cast you aside. Instead, pray that the Spirit might enable you to see “God’s universal purpose” in it, namely, more contentment for us in God and less satisfaction for us in self and the world.

[I encourage you to go to the App Store and download Solid Joys. The reflections in this one were condensed from Desiring God, pp. 265-67.]

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