A Sweet and Bitter Providence

"...the worst of times are not wasted.  They are not wasted globally, historically, or personally.  When you think he [God] is farthest from you, or has even turned against you, the truth is that as you cling to him, he is laying foundation stones of greater happiness in your life.

'Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust him for his grace;

Behind a frowning providence,

He hides a smiling face.'" -William Cowper

~  John Piper  (from "A Sweet and Bitter Providence")

He Asks All

“What kind of a God is it who asks everything of us?  The same God who ‘did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all; and with this gift how can He fail to lavish upon us all He has to give?’  He gives all.  He asks all.” 

 -Elisabeth Elliot

The Ways of a Jealous God

"They have made Me jealous with what is not God ;

They have provoked Me to anger with their idols."

"You shall not worship them or serve them;

for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God"

(Deuteronomy 32:21, Exodus 20:5)

"The Lord said to Hosea...

'The land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.  ...Let her put away her harlotry from her face...or I will...make her like a wilderness, make her like a desert land and slay her with thirst.

She...has acted shamefully'.  For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread...and my drink.'

'Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns,

and I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.

She will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; and she will seek them, but will not find them'.

Then she will say, 'I will go back to my first husband, For it was better for me than now!'

'For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil... I will put an end to all her gaiety...I will punish her for the days...when she used to...follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,' declares the Lord.

'Therefore, behold,

I will allure her,

bring her into the wilderness

and speak kindly to her.

Then I will give her vineyards...

And the valley of "Trouble" as a door of hope.

And she will sing there as in the days of her youth...

It will come about in that day', declares the Lord, 'that you will call Me "husband" and will no longer call Me "master".  For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, so that they will be mentioned by their names no more.

In that day...

I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, and will make them lie down in safety.

I will

betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in lovingkindness and in compassion, and...in faithfulness.  Then you will know the Lord.

It will come about in that day that I will respond', declares the Lord, 'I will sow her for Myself in the land.  I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and will say to those who were not My people, You are My people'!  And they will say, 'You are my God'!

...'[They] will remain for many days without a king or prince...Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days'"

~ Excerpts From Hosea

Life

"The Providence of God is like Hebrew words - it can be read only backwards."

~ John Flavel, puritan writer

Resolutions

Link: 
"The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards"