The ultimate purpose of God in our weakness is to glorify the kind of power that moved Christ to the cross and kept him there until the work of love was done. Paul said that Christ crucified was foolishness to the Greeks, a stumbling block to the Jews, but to those who are called it is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:23f).
The deepest need that you and I have in weakness and adversity is not quick relief, but the well-grounded confidence that what is happening to us is part of the greatest purpose of God in the universe - the glorification of the grace and power of his Son - the grace and power that bore him to the cross and kept him there until the work of love was done. That's what God is building into our lives. That is the meaning of weakness, insults, hardships, persecution, calamity.
-John Piper, taken from Be Still, My Soul: Embracing God's Purpose and Provision in Suffering
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Would you mind listing the books you're reading and/or recommend along these topics? (I feel like you've maybe mentioned more than one lately, though I could be wrong.) I'd like to search through my husband's library and see if he has any, or perhaps look into getting some for myself.
I try to keep my Shelfari page up to date on the side of the page. But I just finished Be Still, My Soul. I read When I Don't Desire God earlier this year and it was really helpful. I received When God Weeps by Joni Eareckson Tada for Christmas and am looking forward to reading it. I am currently reading How Long, O Lord by DA Carson and really like it, though it is a more theological take on suffering but a good foundation. Elizabeth Elliot has good stuff on suffering as well. Hope this helps!
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