Mark Talbot lives with chronic pain. And he lives with persistent hope.
Emphasis in bold and paragraph formatting are mine:
I have known afflictions far worse than my paralysis. I have had seasons of perplexity about God’s providence that have been so deep that night after night sleep has fled from me.
Yet these griefs have been God’s gifts. For only by such severe suffering has my loving Father broken me free of some of my deeper idolatries. In the nights’ watches, while others sleep, my wakeful heart must find its rest in him or it will find no rest at all.
Mark Talbot in his chapter, “All the Good That Is Ours in Christ”: Seeing God’s Gracious Hand in the Hurts Others Do to Us,” from Suffering and the Sovereignty of God edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor, pp. 75-76.
Dr. Talbot will be speaking at the November 8 conference, The Works of God: God’s Good Design in Disability. I encourage you to come hear him speak on ‘Longing for Wholeness: Chronic Suffering and Christian Hope.’
I am excited to hear from Dr. Talbot. I hope you will join us!
I would love to be there but Sydney, Australia is probably too far. Will the talks be recorded and available? If so I would love to get hold of a copy. I pray that one day there will be something like this down under.
Oh, how I needed to hear this. A season of sleeplessness, perplexity about Providence, temptation to self-pity.
Now a determination to praise Him still. Though He slay me…
Thank you.