Embracing Weakness

About four years ago I came across a quote that has not stopped ringing in my ears to this day. Charles Spurgeon once told his students: "I dare say the greatest earthly blessing that God can give to any of us is health, with the exception of sickness”.

Spurgeon knew what it was to suffer. These words were spoken from experience. His wife was an invalid for most of their marriage, from the age of 35 he suffered almost constant and intense pain from gout, rheumatism and Bright’s disease, and battled with recurring depression from the age of 24.

Yet, Spurgeon knew and was convinced that the storms which battered him were the messengers of a gracious God, sent for his good. He said: “I am afraid that all the grace that I have got of my comfortable and easy times and happy hours, might almost lie on a penny. But the good that I have received from my sorrows, and pains, and griefs, is altogether incalculable ... Affliction is the best bit of furniture in my house.”

Why good can come from God sending us painful afflictions?

There are many reasons He does this. Here is one big reason: It humbles us. It brings us to our senses and makes us inescapably aware of our weakness. This is the purpose of Paul’s thorn in the flesh: “…a thorn was given me in the flesh…to keep me from being too elated.” (2 Corinthians 12:7). It keeps him humble. He cannot escape his weakness.

When we feel our weakness it grows us in dependence on God’s grace (“My grace is sufficient for you…” – verse 9), and it puts His power on public display (“…for my power is made perfect in weakness” - verse 9).

One of the most effective tools God has used grow me in Christian maturity is a chronic stomach problem. It has been painful at times. It has not been enjoyable. Yet it has done me a great good. It has humbled me. He has not taken it away. I carry around with me a constant reminder that I need daily to depend upon Him. Again and again it teaches me that I am weak but He is strong. All the glory must go to Him.

Don’t be ashamed of your weakness. Don’t be too quick to wish that God would take away that painful thorn in the flesh. It may be that it is precisely this affliction that is making you a much more effective instrument in His hands. The most powerful instruments in God’s armoury are the weakest. He uses broken tools to display His master craftmanship.

Let us embrace our weakness. Delight in the privilege of being taught to depend upon His grace. Rejoice in the opportunity to put His magnificent strength on public display. A humble Christian is a powerful weapon in God’s hands. 

The Marriage of Ian and Larissa

John Piper:

Being satisfied in God (or anything) always seems easier when all is going well. But when things you love are being stripped out of your hands, then the test is real. If God remains precious in those moments, then his supreme worth shines more brightly. He is most glorified.

The most meaningful testimonies I receive are when people tell me that it was a vision of the sovereignty and goodness of God that got them through the most difficult times of their life.

Here is one of those testimonies. I tremble with the glad responsibility of introducing you to Ian & Larissa Murphy in this video. Tremble, because it is their story and so personal. So delicate. So easily abused. So unfinished. Glad, because Christ is exalted over all things.

"Their best things are yet to come."

J. C. Ryle:

Let it be a settled principle in our minds that the true Christian must always enter the kingdom of God “through much tribulation” (Acts 14:22). Their best things are yet to come. This world is not our home. If we are faithful and decided servants of Christ, the world will certainly hate us, as it hated our Master. In one way or another grace will always be persecuted. No consistency of conduct, however faultless, no kindness and amiability of character, however striking, will exempt a believer from the world’s dislike, so long as they live. It is foolish to be surprised at this. It is mere waste of time to murmur at it. It is a part of the cross, and we must bear it patiently. “Marvel not, my brethren,” says John, “if the world hates you.” “If you were of the world,” says our Lord, “the world would love his own; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (1 John 3:13; John 15:18,19).

'When days of darkness come upon us...'

J. C. Ryle has these helpful words to say about the purpose of suffering in the Christian life:

If we know anything of growth in grace and desire to know more, let us not be surprised if we have to go through much trial and affliction in this world. I firmly believe it is the experience of nearly all the most eminent saints. Like their blessed Master, they have been men of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and perfected through sufferings (Isa. 53:3; Heb. 2:10). It is a striking saying of our Lord, “Every branch in Me that bears fruit [my Father] purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:2).

It is a melancholy fact, that constant temporal prosperity, as a general rule, is injurious to a believer’s soul. We cannot stand it. Sicknesses, losses, crosses, anxieties and disappointments seem absolutely needful to keep us humble, watchful and spiritual–minded. They are as needful as the pruning knife to the vine and the refiner’s furnace to the gold. They are not pleasant to flesh and blood. We do not like them and often do not see their meaning. “No chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Heb. 12:11).

We shall find that all worked for our good when we reach heaven. Let these thoughts abide in our minds, if we love growth in grace. When days of darkness come upon us, let us not count it a strange thing. Rather let us remember that lessons are learned on such days, which would never have been learned in sunshine. Let us say to ourselves, “This also is for my profit, that I may be a partaker of God’s holiness. It is sent in love. I am in God’s best school. Correction is instruction. This is meant to make me grow.

One of God's Purposes in Suffering

Why do we find suffering so difficult? Whether it is the agony of chronic illness, the constant buffetting of disappointment after disappointment, or the longing ache of childnessness, or whatever your suffering may be, why is it that we struggle so much with it? One of the reasons that we find our suffering so difficult is that we cannot see the point of it.

Therefore, one of the best medicines that we ought to be constantly drinking in the midst of our pain is to remind ourselves of God's purposes in suffering. Tim Challies has written a very helpful article focussing on one of God's purposes in suffering. In it he says these words:

Have you ever considered that through your suffering God is strengthening your church? [Ligon Duncan] says, “Our suffering aids the maturity of the whole body of believers. It is extraordinary that our suffering is designed not only to work godliness in us as individuals, causing us to prize Christ more, but also to work maturity within the whole church.” And this is exactly what Paul points to in the opening verses of Colossians. “Suffering is God’s instrument to bring about the maturity of the whole church. God ordains for our suffering, as a participation in the suffering of Christ’s body, to bring about in the church the purposes of Christ’s affliction. In other words, sometimes God appoints his children to suffer so that the whole body will become mature.” We all know that as members of the church we are to rejoice together and to mourn together, but do we understand that these occasions of mourning are given for our maturity? If we truly are a body, each part depende

nt on the other, then it cannot be any other way. One person’s suffering is every person’s suffering; one person’s maturing is every person’s maturing.

Can’t you see how this must be true? Can you think about some of the Christian men and women whose suffering you have witnessed and see how their example has served to strengthen the church? I can think of all kinds of examples. Some of them are people who suffered far away from me, far from my local church, but whose suffering served to strengthen even those Christians whom they had never met face-to-face. Others are people who have been a part of my local church or still are a part of my local congregation, whose suffering has been witnessed by only a few; but those few have been strengthened by their witness. I think of people who suffered through illness or joblessness or the loss of a child; they grew in maturity through the suffering but, remarkably, so did those of us who wept with them.

You can read the whole article by clicking here.

How Could God Allow Suffering?

"Behold the Cross of Christ"

Here are some more helpful thoughts from J. C. Ryle on suffering, and how the gospel of Christ crucified comforts the suffering believer:

Are you a distressed believer? Is your heart pressed down with sickness, tried with disappointments, overburdened with cares? To you I say this day, “Behold the cross of Christ.” Think whose hand it is that chastens you; think whose hand is measuring to you the cup of bitterness which you are now drinking. It is the hand of Him who was crucified! It is the same hand which, in love to your soul, was nailed to the accursed tree. Surely that thought should comfort and hearten you. Surely you should say to yourself, “A crucified Savior will never lay upon me anything that is not for my good. There is a needs be. It must be well.

Ministering to the Sick and Dying

Over at the Gospel Coalition Kevin DeYoung has written a few very helpful points on ministering to the sick and dying. This is a very helpful read, whether you're in full time gospel ministry or not. All of us at some time will find ourselves with someone who is sick or dying, whether a family member, friend or a brother or sister in our church. It is worth taking the time to read through DeYoung's few thoughts. You can read it by clicking here.

"For Every Storm"

Getting our expectations right in the Christian life is crucial. This is especially the case when the storm hits. When pain, sickness, loss, bereveament or some other calamity hits, if our expectaions are wonky, then we could be on our way to a shipwreck.

J. C. Ryle has some helpful words to remember when the storm breaks:

If we are true Christians, we must not expect everything smooth in our journey to heaven. We must count it no strange thing, if we have to endure sicknesses, losses, bereavements, and disappointments, just like other people. Free pardon and full forgiveness, grace by the way and glory to the end – all this our Savior has promised to give. But He has never promised that we shall have no afflictions. He loves us too well to promise that.

By affliction He teaches us many precious lessons, which without it we should never learn. By affliction He shows us our emptiness and weakness, draws us to the throne of grace, purifies our affections, weans us from the world and makes us long for heaven. In the resurrection morning we shall all say, ‘it is good for me that I was afflicted.’ [Psalm 119:71] We shall thank God for every storm.

Jesus has not promised us an easy life now. In fact, we are promised exactly the opposite, we are told that "through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22). The Christian can be sure of this that the Christian life is not a straight and easy line to glory, but they shall get there - God makes sure of this. When we stand in glory we shall look back on every storm and we shall praise Him all the more. Not only because God has preserved us in Christ through every overwhelming wave, but also for the unnumberable blessings that He has brought to us by each and every wave. Therefore, even though we may not see it now, let us look by faith and learn to say "it is good for me that I was afflicted."

This Was Grace

Keller and Cancer

Tim Keller spoke recently at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly in London. During one of the sessions he was interviewed by Adrian Reynolds. Here is a snippet from that interview, where Keller speaks about his experience of having cancer and how God has used it to bless him.


EMA Keller Helpful Crises from The Proclamation Trust on Vimeo.

Disability and God's Sovereign Goodness

John Knight's son, Paul, was born severely disabled. In this interview John gives a moving testimony of God's grace in their son's disability. He describes the depth of pain and anguish he and his wife went through when coming to terms with their son's condition and testifies to God's sovereign goodness in Paul's disability. This interview is a huge encouragement us to trust Jesus in the darkest of times.

The Blessings of Affliction

BY nature we are those who love the good things that God gives instead of the God who gives them, loving the gifts over the giver. Our hearts naturally turn to worship and serve created things, instead of worshipping and serving the Creator. This is idolatry.

As Christians we have a loving Heavenly Father who has given us every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), these are blessings that we shall only enjoy in their fullness when Christ returns and brings about the new creation, where we shall be with Him forever enjoying the fullness of joy in His prescence. However, so often we do not long for that day as we should. This is because we are tempted to love the good things that God gives in this present world over the Giver.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying the good gifts of His creation that God has given us. These are good things that He has made for us to enjoy. The problem comes when we start loving these things instead of Him. When we do this we no longer long for the new creation, where we, as His people, shall enjoy being eternally in His prescence in a fully restored and renewed creation. Instead we settle for much less, by seeking the fullness of our joy in this present world, instead of in Christ.

This is why there is great blessing for the Christian in suffering and affliction. Our suffering and afflictions remind us of the imperfections of this fallen world. They wean us from love for this world that we might have a deeper love for God. They remind us not to get comfortable in this present world but to long for the perfect and renewed world to come, where we shall have the fullness of joy in the prescence of our King.

The puritan minister John Flavel recognised this. He speaks of the blessings of afflictions in this way:

“Is it indeed for the saints’ advantage, to be weaned from love of and delight in ensnaring earthly vanities; to be quickened and urged forward with more haste to heaven; to have clearer discoveries of their own hearts; to be taught to pray more fervently, frequently, spiritually; to look and long for the rest to come, more ardently? If these be for their advantage, experience teaches us that no condition is ordinarily blessed with such fruits as these, like an afflicted condition. Is it well then to repine and droop because your Father consults the advantage of your soul rather than the gratification of your humors? Because he will bring you to heaven by a nearer way than you are willing to go? Is this a due requital of his love, who is pleased so much to concern himself in your welfare? Who does more for you than he will do for thousands in the world upon whom he will not lay a rod or dispense an affliction to them for their good? (Hosea 4:17). But alas! We judge by sense and reckon things good or evil according to our present taste. Take heed that you overlook not the many precious mercies which the people of God enjoy amidst all their trouble. It is a pity that our tears on account of our troubles, should so blind our eyes, that we should not see our mercies. I will not insist upon the mercy of having your life given you “for a prey,” (Jeremiah 39:18); nor upon the many outward comforts which you enjoy, even above what were enjoyed by Christ and his precious servants, of whom the world was not worthy. But what say you to pardon of sin; interest in Christ; the covenant of promise; and an eternity of happiness in the presence of God, after a few days are over?”

Disability and God's Grace

Good Health Is Not What's Best For Us

Our prayer life reveals our priorities, what we think as most important. Therefore, what we ask for prayer for ourselves and others shows what we think we need the most. What we pray for others tells us about what we think is best for them.

Recently I've noticed something quite revealing about how we pray for those who are sick or suffering. When the cancer strikes what is it that we primarily pray for those in its grip? Or when that devastating virus knock us out what is it that we ask for prayer for from others? Well, more often than not (in my experience) the answer is that we pray that others will get well soon. We pray that God might grant the doctors skill in operating, that the individual would have time to rest and make a speedy recovery.

Now, please don't misunderstand me. I am not suggesting for a moment that we should not be praying for these things. There is nothing wrong with prayers such as these. I wholeheartedly believe that God is sovereign over all sickness and is concerned for the good of the afflicted. However, if good health is the only thing that we are praying for those who are sick, then something is wrong. Indeed,even more than this, I want to suggest that if good health is the primary thing we are praying for those who are unwell then something is wrong.

Let me explain. If we are praying only, or primarily for the sick person to get well then this implies that we think that good health is what's best for us. What we pray for ourselves and others reveals what we think we need the most. If a return to health is top of the prayer list, then that is what we think is most important.

However, good health is not what's best for us. In Romans 8:28 Paul says: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." In all things God is working for the good of His people in Christ. Now, all things includes all things! It includes both sickness and health. For the believer, all things have been ordained by God to work for our good.

But what is that good that all things are working for? What is what's best for us? The context shows us. In verse 29 Paul goes on to explain when he says: "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

What is God's ultimate goal for the Christian? It is "to be conformed to the image of his Son". In other words, it is to be made like Jesus. This is what is ultimately what's best for us: to be christlike. This is God's sovereign, unshakeable purpose that he is working for the man or woman who has trusted in Jesus, which He will surely bring this to fulfillment on that day when we shall be like Him when we see Him as He is (1 John3:2). And He is using all things to bring about this purpose (Romans 8:28). Sickness and health, the troubles and the good times are all His servants to bring about this purpose for His people.

This means that when sickness comes, it comes ultimately from God's sovereign hand, and it serves to chisel and to shape the believer to become more and more like the Lord Jesus. So, good health is not necessarily going to be what's best for us. If, in God's infinite wisdom, He sees fit to afflict the believer with sickness, it is because He sees it as what is best to mould the believer into the image of His Son.

Now, this does not mean that we should never pray for those who are unwell, or that we never pray that they return to good health.The rest of the Bible shows that we should be praying for these things (See James 5:13-15). However, what it does do is to transform the way we think about and pray about sickness. It helps us to see that our priority in praying for those who our sick ought not to be: "help them get well quickly". Rather, it ought to be "Father, please, in your sovereign purposes, use this sickness to transform your child more and more into the likeness of your dear Son."

Two Extremely Obvious Observations on the Book of Job

Recently I've been reading through the book of Job and have noticed again two glaringly obvious things about the book as a whole. As obvious as these things are I think that they are part of the way that the book of Job ministers to the suffering believer. So, here they are, two obvious observations on the book of Job:

1) Job is a Big Book

Suffering is not an issue that we can give short and quick answers to as we seek to care for sufferers, or grapple with suffering for ourselves. It takes time to do this. This is perhaps why Job is such a long book. One of the ways it ministers to the suffering believer is by helping them to take time in wrestling with their suffering and the questions it raises. It helps the reader to take the time to grapple with these issues and not to settle with short and quick answers.

2) Job is a Poetic Book

That is, most of the book is made up of poetry. There are very few narrative sections (See Job 1-2; 42), and even these have poetic lines in them. Poetry has an effect that prose never can. It allows us to express things that plain lines of prose would not be able to. It can minister to us in ways that prose cannot. Have you ever noticed how, for many believers, what has sustained them through the waves of suffering has been a Psalm, or a hymn that expresses biblical truth? Poetry has a way of engaging with the soul and ministering to it in ways that plain words cannot (it is interesting to note what a large proportion of the Bible contains poetry and poetic images). Therefore, another way Job ministers to the suffering believer is through the fact that it is a poetic book, it expresses the pain of Job in ways that prose cannot express, but that the suffering believer can identify with. It ministers to the soul with poetic images and devices that express things, and impress things on the heart that cannot be conveyed by other genres. For example, the poetic imagery in chapters 38-41 says "God knows everything and is in control of everything", in ways that are much more vivid than this and in ways that impress these truths on the heart in a way that simple prose cannot.

Help...I'm Fearful of the Dying Process!

The Japanese Earthquake and God's Sovereignty

I'm sure none of us can be unaware that we live in a world that is filled with suffering and calamity. Earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan, and turmoil and violence in the Middle East have filled the headlines over the last few weeks. The issue of suffering is inescapable.

One of the questions that no doubt many will be asking is how a good and sovereign God could allow such devastation. Some of us may have asked questions like this ourselves, others may be surrounded with others asking such questions. It is vital that we think through and grapple with these questions. It is also vital that we do so in a way that is honouring to God, and therefore founded on the truth of His word. The Bible is clear that God is both utterly sovereign, in control of all things (Job 42:2 -from the mouth of suffering Job), and utterly good (Psalm 119:68 - from the mouth of the suffering Psalmist). How then do these devastating events fit with these two glorious truths? What are God's sovereign and good purposes in these things?

In order to help us do this let me suggest a few resources that will help us. There are many more resources out there than I've mentioned here, but the following are a good place to start:

• Don Carson's book How Long, O Lord? grapples with the issues of evil and suffering. He spends time especially looking at how we hold together the truth of God's utter sovereignty with suffering and human evil in the world. This is an invaluable book for giving us a robust biblical framework to understand suffering both on a personal and a global scale.
• John Piper was interviewed by a radio station after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. He gives a warm, clear, and bold response to many of the questions that non-Christians ask after such events. Piper gives a great model on how to respond in a way that is loving and pastorally sensitive, yet unashamed to boldly proclaim the truth of Scripture. It is well worth a listen to, both in seeking answers to our own questions, and in helping us as we seek to answer the questions of others.
• John Piper has also given a three-part series of talks from the book of Job entitled When the Righteous Suffer. This is a very helpful series of talks that I have heard on the issue of suffering. The book of Job is one of the most important parts of Scripture to grapple with for understanding suffering and God's sovereignty, and Piper does a great job of opening up the magnificent themes of the book of Job, and applying them to the suffering believer.
• Christopher Ash's book Out of the Storm is a study of the book of Job and is a gem of a book. I have personally sat under Christopher as he taught through the book of Job on the Cornhill Training Course and have found it invaluable. This is a great book for getting a clear picture of the book of Job.
• Suffering and The Sovereignty of God is a book written by various authors based on talks given at a "Desiring God" conference. A very helpful look at how God's sovereignty relates to the issue of suffering. Almost all of the authors are those who've known devastating suffering for themselves.
• If You Could Ask God One Question is aimed at a non-Christian audience. Williams and Cooper, through Christianity Explored courses they've run, have spent years asking people "If you could ask God one question, and you knew it would be answered, what would it be?" This book gives their answers to the most frequently asked questions. They have one chapter which looks at the question "Why do you allow suffering?" It is a book well worth having on the shelf as we seek to answer those questions that come up in conversations with non-Christian friends.

The Cost of the Work of the Gospel

The work of the gospel is costly. If anyone thinks that Christian ministry is an easy option, or a bit of fun they are sorely mistaken. Those who serve in the proclaiming of Christ's gospel must expect to suffer for it. This is something that all of us as Christians must recognise, and it is something that those in full time Christians work must especially be aware of. William Tyndale was a man who understood this. He was exiled from his home country, suffered greatly and was eventually burnt alive for translating the Bible and speaking and writing about the truth of the gospel. Here is the last word he sent to his best friend, John Frith, in a letter just before he was executed:

Your cause is Christ’s gospel, a light that must be fed with the blood of faith. . . . If when we be buffeted for well-doing, we suffer patiently and endure, that is thankful with God; for to that end we are called. For Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps, who did no sin. Hereby have we perceived love that he laid down his life for us: therefore we ought to be able to lay down our lives for the brethren. . . . Let not your body faint. If the pain be above your strength, remember: “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, I will give it you.” And pray to our Father in that name, and he will ease your pain, or shorten it. . . . Amen.

Sovereignty, Sin and the Cross

The story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50 helps us undersatnd the relation between God's sovereignty (His complete control over all things) and human sin.

Joseph's brothers treated him terribly. They hated him (37:4) and wanted him dead (37:18). They attacked him, threw him down a pit, then sold him to some passing slave traders (37:18-28). It seems that the only thing that kept them from killing him was the opportunity of making money by selling him as a slave (37:26). They then return and lie to their father, telling him that Joseph has been killed by a wild animal. What they do is a horrific evil, and is utterly repulsive in God's eyes.

However, none of this is outside of God's control. Instead, as we work through the story we see exactly the opposite, that God is in complete control, even over their sin. In fact, their sin is part of God's good purposes for His people, which includes Joseph's brothers (who are to go on to be the heads of the tribes of Israel). Joseph's brothers even end up being saved because of their sin. In God's purposes Joseph ends up as the prime minister of Egypt, who is in complete control over rations of food in a time of great famine. This means that he is able to provide food for his family, including his brothers, when they are struck hard by famine. Joseph delivers his family from death, and ensures their security. He would not have been in a position to do this had his brothers not done such a great evil by selling him off for a bit of extra pocket money.

This was not God just making the best of a bad situation, doing the best He could with the mess that Joseph's brothers had made. God ordained their sin to happen as part of His good purposes for His glory and the good of His people. Joseph makes this clear in 50:20 when he says, "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." On the one hand Joseph's brothers plotted and planned and purposed evil against Joseph. However, all of this was part of God's purposes. He planned this for good, to save His people. God did not make the best of a bad situation, He ordained that this should happen as part of His good purposes. Joseph is not ashamed to hold together both God's utter sovereignty and control over all things and human responsibility, their evil is not excusable.

Not only this but the story also draws attention to the glory of God's grace. In His sovereign purposes, the evil that Joseph's brothers committed end up for their good, and bringing about their deliverance. Does that not make us marvel at God's sovereign grace and His unfathomable wisdom.

If we move to the New Testament we see the same pattern. At the heart of the Bible is the most horrific sin ever committed, the slaughter of the Son of God on the cross. This is a horriffic evil, yet the cross has been planned by God since before the foundation of the world. at the cross both Jew's and Gentiles (representing the whole world) united together against Jesus to put Him to death (Acts 4:27). Yet, they did what God's "hand and...plan had predestined to take place." (Acts 4:28). The most horriffic human sin was planned by God from eternity past for the ultimate good, to bring glory to God by the saving of a people for Himself to all eternity. Not, only this but this horriffic evil was purposed for the inestimable good of those who comitted it. Acts 4 sees the rulers of both Jews and Gentiles as representative of the whole world united in putting Jesus to death. Yet, this great evil has been purposed by God to bring eternal salvation to people from all nations, tribes and tongues, both Jew and Gentile.

Ought this not to lead us to rejoicing in the inestimable riches of God's grace? Does this not make us join with Paul in saying: "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearcheable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!...To Him be glory forever.Amen" (Romans 11:33, 36).