Over the last couple of years, I have watched John Piper suffer. First it was a battle with cancer in 2006. Then it was the loss of his father earlier this year. Now it is the loss of his granddaughter, who died in the womb of her mother at full term. These kinds of sufferings are not uncommon, nor is it necessarily uncommon for someone to face three events like this in such a short time. But the uncommon element for John Piper is that his sufferings become public knowledge through his website, and many people, far more than are personally acquainted with him, get to read his own personal reflections on the sufferings that he faces. When I read these very personal reflections, I see an approach to suffering that is saturated with Piper’s God-centered theology. Even here, watching from a distance, I am learning so much about how to suffer well.
Read this. It will bring tears to your eyes.
And if you missed Piper’s reflections on his cancer and on the death of his father, see the former here and the latter here.
