Suffering and the Sovereignty of God Quotes

“The evil and suffering in this world are greater than any of us can comprehend. But evil and suffering are not ultimate. God is. Satan, the great lover of evil and suffering, is not sovereign. God is.”
― John Piper, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God

“Experiencing grief and pain is like falling off a cliff. Everything has been turned upside down, and we are no longer in control. As we fall, we see one and only one tree that is growing out from the rock face. So we grab hold of it and cling to it with all our might. This tree is our holy God. He alone can keep us from falling headfirst to our doom. There simply aren’t any other trees to grab. So we cling to this tree (the holy God) with all our might.

But what we didn’t realize is that when we fell and grabbed the tree our arm actually became entangled in the branches, so that in reality, the tree is holding us. We hold on to keep from falling, but what we don’t realize is that we can’t fall because the tree has us. We are safe. God, in his holiness, is keeping us and showing mercy to us. We may not be aware of it, but it is true. He is with us even in the deepest and darkest pit.”
― Dustin Shramek, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God

“How Is Hope in God Made Visible? Peter talks about the visibility of this hope: “Hallow the Lord Christ in your hearts, ready always to give a reason to everyone who asks you for a word concerning the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15, AT). Why would people ask about hope? What kind of life are we to live that would make people wonder about our hope? If our security and happiness in the future were manifestly secured the way the world secures its future, no one would ask us about it. There would be no unusual hope to see. What Peter is saying is that the world should see a different hope in the lives of Christians—not a hope in the security of money or the security of power or the security of houses or lands or portfolios, but the security of “the grace that is coming to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13, AT). Therefore, God ordains suffering to help us release our hold on worldly hopes and put our “hope in God” (1 Pet. 1:21). The fiery trials are appointed to consume the earthly dependencies and leave only the refined gold of “genuine faith” (1 Pet. 1:7). “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (1 Pet. 4:19). It’s the supremacy of God’s great faithfulness above all other securities that frees us to “rejoice as [we] share in Christ’s sufferings” (1 Pet. 4:13, AT). Therefore, joy in suffering for Christ’s sake makes the supremacy of God shine more clearly than all our gratitude for wealth.”
― John Piper, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God

“The popular God of fun-church is simply too small and too affable to hold a hurricane in his hand.”
― John Piper, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God

“So my prayer for this book is that God would stand forth and reassert his Creator-rights in our lives, and show us his crucified and risen Son who has all authority in heaven and on earth, and waken in us the strongest faith in the supremacy of Christ, and the deepest comforts in suffering, and the sweetest fellowship with Jesus that we have ever known.”
― John Piper, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God