John Piper's advice on What to Say About Virginia Tech

21 Ways to Minister to Those Who Are Suffering
April 16, 2007

After the Columbine shootings, John Piper wrote up 21 ways to love and comfort the hurting by trusting wholly in God's sovereignty over all things. He revised them after 9-11. I posted this a couple months ago, but I want to again in light of the Virginia Tech incident that is still developing.

As lovers of an all-powerful God, let us be prepared to love people in their pain by empathetically and mercifully pointing them to a God who is in control.

21 Ways to Minister to Those Who Are Suffering
(Bible verses to accompany each item on this list are available in the full article.)

Read the full list here

The Best Promise of This Life

At our workplace, as in all of life, we will undoubtedly encounter difficulties from time to time. Sometimes difficulties arise from our own mistakes...on other occasions, it's due to direct opposition from others. At times, there's no one to "blame" - it's just a matter of the confluence of unfavorable circumstances.


Whatever, the source of difficulties, this familiar verse has been a comfort to me amidst them.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."
(Romans 8:28-29)

From Beside Still Waters, C.H. Spurgeon elaborates on this passage of scripture better than I ever will...so I'll let his timeless words speak to us.

"Everything that happens to you is for your own good. If the waves roll against you, it only speeds your ship toward the port...You gain by loss, you grow healthy in sickness, you live by dying, and you are made rich in losses."

"Could you ask for a better promise? It is better that all things should work for my good than all things should be as I wish to have them. All things might work for my pleasure and yet might all work my ruin. If all things do not always please me, they will always benefit me. This is the best promise of this life"

I often think that what will make me happy is to have things work out according to my desires . Yet, this isn't what will bring me lasting joy. Spurgeon reminds me that it is actually far better that things work for my good than to have things work as I wish. My wayward heart doesn't always believe this but the promise of Romans 8:28 is indeed "the best promise of this life".

Spurgeon also speaks to God's purpose in the midst of difficult circumstances.

"Sometimes a storm brings people to their senses and arouses their consciences until they cry to the Lord. At other times, serious business losses bring such distress that people are driven to seek riches that are more enduring than gold, a competence that is more reliable than profits, and a comfort that is more genuine and lasting than wealth."

His recommended response? Humble submission to God's purpose accomplished through our trials.

"Submit cheerfully. there is no affliction that comes by chance....Not a drop of bitter ever falls into our cup unless the heavenly Father's wisdom places it there. We dwell where everything is ordered by God. Whenever adversity must come, it is always with a purpose. And, if it is God's purpose, should I wish to escape it?"

Whatever your struggle this week or next, I trust this meditation on "the best promise of this life" will encourage you.

Good News for a Bad Day at Work

I suspect you've experienced some really bad days at work-the kind that made you wonder why you even got out of bed that morning. Perhaps it's the loss of a sales opportunity you've been working on or the demise of a critical project. On other occasions, bad days may arise from conflicts with coworkers, bosses and clients. Needless to say, after nearly 20 years in the technology arena, I've had my share of "bad days".

How do we respond in the face of these adversities at work? Does God have a purpose in the midst of our troubled day? Is there really good news for a bad day at the office?

If you find yourself in such a situation, here are a couple of ways, I believe we can view our circumstances and respond biblically -

The first and best thing we can do is to preach the gospel to ourselves relentlessly. However, there are two temptations that may hinder us in this regard.

The first is to think of the gospel as a message for unbelievers that we "graduate" out of when we come to faith in Christ. This kind of thinking in wholly incorrect. The good news of Jesus Christ is a life giving message for all - for those yet to respond in repentance as well as those who have come to faith but continue to live in this fallen world.

Another temptation is to think of the gospel as impractical to matters of our vocation. Many Christians, myself included, may unwittingly treat our work life in the "marketplace" as a gospel free zone. Sure, the gospel may be applicable on in church or even at home...but at work? Yet, these are the very moments that the gospel is most applicable. We need to be reminded that no matter how pressing the problems may be at work, they cannot compare to our greatest problem - the problem of our sin. For this predicament, God has provided a remedy at great cost to Himself. We need to infuse our hearts with gospel centered scriptures that lead us to meditation. Passages like 1 Peter 3:18, 2nd Cor 5:21 are dripping with gospel truth.

The second way to respond in face of a bad day is to consider our adversities with godly purpose in view. I find that adversity is often a way that God reveals His eternal worth to us. It is not the experience of trials that lead to maturity but how we encounter and engage those trials. Trials are designed to remind us of the temporal nature of this life and the eternal worth of knowing Christ. On a recent bad day, I found myself fraught with anxiety yet I sensed the Holy Spirit reminding me of 2 Cor 4:17-18

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

I was also encouraged to desire God and hope in Him from Psalm 73:25 where David writes

"Whom have I in heaven but you. There is nothing on earth that I desire beside you. My heart and my flesh may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

This is good news indeed!

If you want more good news for a bad day, check this out.