A Verse for the Weary
I just met John Piper.
I sat looking at the man whose words I have listened to and questioned and clung to and wrestled with for over a decade. He delivers nothing but solid food. Some topics so difficult to digest that it takes months to chew on and process. For some it takes years.
He was right in front of me, in person. I had to remind myself that he is not God. He is simply a truth teller and one of the most significant influences on the Christian faith in my generation. Even if you completely disagree with his perspective, you still can’t not be moved by his emotional conviction. If the gospel is not true, he would be the most to be pitied and I guarantee that would bring him so much joy. Being in a room with a spiritual hero like Piper has a deafening affect on all other noises. It makes all other pursuits and desires pale in value and meaning to running hard after Christ and his kingdom purposes. He exudes a polarizing focus on the one thing that matters: knowing God and making Him known. He is humble. He is intentional. He is confident. His words are weighted with eternal consequences. He believes deeply what he says and it is an honor to be in the same room allowing his Christ-centered wisdom to wash over my heart.
Piper spoke on the providence of God. If sovereignty refers to God’s power to will and do as He pleases, then providence refers to God’s purposeful sovereignty; His power exerted purposefully. My heart was completely tuned in to every syllable while my mind began searching the files of my memory and the one passage of scripture that has probably meant the most to me and anchored me on my most difficult days.
I had been living in NY for 4 years, and a dear friend at the time bought Taste and See, a daily devotional by Piper as a gift for me. She knew my intimate struggles of living in NYC, having a baby away from my parents, experiencing the loss of another pregnancy all while helping to plant a church and support a husband making a career change. I was an emotional mess. I was living through great joys of entering into motherhood and watching God work in and among the City while grieving the loss of relationships, my career, the life I thought I would have, and a fetus. I questioned God’s goodness. My anchor felt unstable.
This treasure of a book was divided up into palatable bite-sized pieces of rich food filled with eternal reminders that sustained a dry and weary City Momma. My friend relayed to me that as a member of his church, for a limited time, he offered to sign books purchased in his bookstore. The church had emphasized this would only be a signature. My friend wrote a note to him sharing my situation. I’ll never know all that it said, but when I opened the book up for the first time, I was deeply moved to see John Piper had not only signed his name and but had extended himself a bit further to direct me to a verse. I immediately ran to the Bible to read the verse and I have unpacked and wrestled with it ever since. That was 10 years ago. It is now the cornerstone that I leverage my life upon.
“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
When I am doubting the plans of God, when my eyes are veering away from Him and onto the waves around me, when I am faced with another tearful goodbye, more letting go, and ongoing disappointments, I go to this verse. I claim it. I repeat it over and over in my head. It has the power to stop me in my thoughts, in my tracks, and to remember what God I serve.
I am forever indebted to Pastor John for pointing me to it. Never in a million years, would I ever think I would have the chance to walk up to him in person, and be able to say “thank you”. I did today. I confidently shared with him this story, my voice fighting back emotion representing the depth of impact, and that I was so grateful for his life and his ministry.
Wherever you are today, let these words wash over you.
If God gave up his own son, how will he not also with him graciously give you what you need today?