Desiring God 2008 Regional Conference
Job: When the Righteous Suffer
Desiring God 2008 Regional Conference
The book of Job asks the earnest question we all ask: “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
Afflicted with disease, stripped of his wealth, and asked to confess to evil, Job reaches through his cloud of suffering and strains to touch his God.
As we ponder Job’s misery, do we also see the threads of God’s mercy in it?
We will all face suffering at some point in our lives; it is inescapable. But what makes calamity endurable is not that God shares our shock, but that through every flame of pain and flood of fear, his sovereign goodness sustains us and turns it all for our good.
For you who suffer, for you who will suffer, and for you who walk alongside those who suffer, we invite you to this conference to see and savor the One who suffered in our place, and who promises never to leave or forsake us.
Please join us for this two-day event on October 17-18 in Austin, Texas.
Overview
October 17 — 18, 2008
Austin, Texas
Hill Country Bible Church NW
Register Now
Speaker
John Piper
A Decree of Healing and Means
This entry is simply to point out how God works. The Scriptures are encouraging (to say the least). I hope you picked up from the title the things which I am hoping to pointing out. I point this out for us to stand in awe of God.
2 Kings 20:1-7
God decrees Hezekiah will be healed and Isaiah lays a cake of figs on him that he may recover. Wow!
“Ankleness” (Toddler translation: “Thankfulness”)
This morning I told the girls to go ahead and sit down at the table while I finished fixing their breakfast. Madi sat in Lydia’s seat which is by the window. As she looked out she said, “Ank You for couds! (toddler translation: Thank You for the clouds!) I brought them their plates, went back to the kitchen to get mine and overheard their conversation:
Madi (2 years old): Et’s eat, E-ya. (Let’s eat, Lydia.)
Lydia (6 years old): Let’s pray first.
Madi: Ank You…ow-melon, ank You…eggs, ank You…milk…Amen. (ThankYou for the watermelon, thankYou for the eggs, thank You for the milk, Amen.
Lydia: Momma! Madi prayed all by herself!
It was just one of those encouraging moments God graciously gives us. What a blessing to begin our day this way!
The Swiftness of Sin
Recently, as I read through 2 Samuel I noticed a unique literary style that emphasized the meaning of the text by its presentation. Notice in the following passage how fast sin overcame him:
“…Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, ‘Is this not Bathesheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?’ David sent messengers and took her; and when she came to him, he lay with her, and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, ‘I am pregnant.’…”
In four verses, sin has taken David captive. Many things enter through the senses (mainly our eyes) and from there all sorts of evil can erupt. So, be careful what you see, hear, touch, and smell…sin may be around the corner.
from the hospital 10/27
This is more from my journal written while I was on bedrest in the hospital, waiting for our third child to be born.
At 3a.m. this morning I began having complications again. Not as bad as before, but enough to be watched closely for a while. Everything is still ok. We had a quick sonogram that confirmed everything is going well. We got to see a picture of the baby’s face. It was so sweet!
An Unusual Picture
A friend and I were working on campus one day and I saw this chair sitting at someone’s apartment. I thought it was quite odd and here is why. How can someone change the world or be a “World Changer” sitting in a chair? I guess they are so busy changing the world they have to rest occasionally. This could be a point of discussion concerning “felt needs ministry” only. For anyone setting out to change the world let us be reminded that Jesus Christ changes the world through the preaching of the Gospel. “As you go, Preach.”
from the hospital- 10/25,26/07
October 25, 2007
More friends visited and prayed over us today. Praise: Jason’s mom arrived safely and other financial gifts have been given.
October 26, 2007 Friday
The pregnancy complication that brought me here has ended. Maybe I will get to go home on Monday. We still got to have our Family Fun Friday Night. Jason, the girls, and his mom came up; we ordered a pizza and watched a movie!
Getting to have our Friday night together meant a great deal to me. “Family Fun Friday” is a tradition we began about three years ago. We plan for it all week sometimes. Whether we go out or stay at home, it is always an evening that we focus on being together and having fun as a family (hence the name!) As the children are growing up, we have seen this is a perfect set-up in place for a special family devotion as well. I hope we can share some of those as they develop.
Divine Election is…
As I have been reading 1 Corinthians, more on election should be stated. So, as Paul states it clearly and our pastor exhorted the body of Christ with and I too exort you with these words…
The Apostle Paul,
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God…
- Chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise;
- Chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
- Chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written,
LET THE ONE WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.” (1 Cor. 1:18-31 ESV)
from the hospital- 10/24/07
October 24, 2007
My condition is the same. The baby is still doing well. A friend came by to visit and shared that she also had a complete previa with one of her children. She ended up delivering in an emergency situation at 33 weeks, without steroids. This was very encouraging to hear, since I would never have known this by looking at her now six year old daughter. She prayed over me before she left.
We have an offer for family to come help us. After prayer, we decided Jason’s mom is the right choice to come at this time.
It is one thing for someone to say they will pray for you, but there is something special about someone stopping to literally lay hands on you and pray. I realize that we can’t always be there in person and I am extremely thankful for all those who prayed from a distance. I just encourage you (and I am pointing back at myself) to take the time, if possible, to pray over someone in person or on the phone in the middle of the situation. Let us just be careful not to do this to be seen by others, or in any way lift ourselves up.
To be continued…
The Word Is Not Imprisoned 