Written by Dawn Rutan
I’ve been reading Be Still My Soul: Embracing God’s Purpose & Provision in Suffering, edited by Nancy Guthrie, which is a collection of 25 readings by various authors. The following are several quotes that I’ve noted and clung to in recent weeks.
“God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves.” –Joni Eareckson Tada (35)
“You are one person living at one place, at one point in time and even if God chose to explain to you how all the pieces of his giant puzzle are fitting together in a manner consistent with his own righteous and holy and gracious nature, so that he may faithfully fulfill his promises in your life and work everything that happens to you for your good, you couldn’t understand it. But you can believe that God understands it. And you can believe that God is loving enough, and powerful enough, and wise enough, and gracious enough, and faithful enough to you to do what he says when he promises to work everything for your good.” –Wilson Benton, Jr. (59)
“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.” –A.W. Tozer (89)
“Sanctified tribulations work the proof of our faith, and this is more precious than that of gold, which perisheth, though it be tried by fire… [Your] own faith in God is proved when you can cling to him under temptation… I find it especially sweet to learn the great strength of the Lord in my own weakness.” –Charles Spurgeon (104-105)
“It was as if the Savior was saying, ‘I can demonstrate my power better by not eliminating your problem. It is better for you, Paul, and for my glory in your life, that I show my strength by keeping you going though the thorn remains.’ …The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually, even while our bodies waste away. To live with your ‘thorn’ uncomplainingly, sweet, patient, and free in heart to love and help others, even though every day you feel weak, is true sanctification. It is true healing for the spirit. It is a supreme victory of grace. The healing of your sinful person thus goes forward even though the healing of your mortal body does not. And the healing of persons is the name of the game so far as God is concerned.” –J.I. Packer (139-140)
“‘Blessed [happy] is the people whose God is the Lord’—that is, who count enjoying God as their happiness—when they lose everything, they can still be happy because they have not lost God. Our afflictions reveal our state of mind; when we see outward crosses as the greatest evil, God is not our main happiness. In the greatest lack of earthly things there is happiness, and comfort enough in God’s covenant.” –Thomas Manton (143)
“As we sang [Since Jesus Came Into My Heart], I wondered how everyone in the chapel was processing that statement in light of real life experience when sea billows of joy do not roll over the soul. Here’s how I fit it in my own experience: Yes, since knowing Jesus, joy has rolled over me like the waves of the sea, but not always. There are times when the tide goes out. God is still God; joy is still joy; but I am baking in the seaweed on the beach waiting for the tide to come in… God’s purpose in our weakness is to glorify the grace and power of his Son… not by getting rid of all our weaknesses; but by giving strength to endure and even rejoice in tribulation. ” –John Piper (145, 151)
And one final reminder that our pastor shared with me:
May you be “strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 2:11-12 ESV).
© 2017 Dawn Rutan. The views stated may or may not reflect the beliefs of the pastor or leadership of Dulin’s Grove Church.
