Invitation from John Piper

[Return to the 2005 National Conference Archive.]

Dear friends,

Those of us at Desiring God are aware that our mission is difficult. We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ by commending the truth that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. One of the reasons this mission is difficult is that human suffering is huge—in the number of people who suffer and in the intensity of suffering. Our joy and satisfaction are threatened by suffering. Therefore our mission to awaken joy and deepen satisfaction is more difficult in the face of suffering.

Paradoxically it is also true that our mission is advanced by suffering. We do not aim to awaken joy in physical comfort or satisfaction in pleasant circumstances. We aim to spread joy in God and all that he is for us in Jesus. Suffering often strips us of satisfactions that compete with God. It casts us on God alone for our hope and joy. “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26).

But whether suffering is hindering our mission or advancing it, the mission is not easy. There are problems—physical problems of sheer survival, relational problems with those who may have caused the suffering, psychological problems of deep depression for the losses we have endured, faith problems as we try to trust God in the face of so much pain, and theological problems with the goodness and power of God in a world so full of suffering.

God has brought us to a deep conviction at Desiring God that he is indeed sovereign over all things, including suffering, and that he is good and wise. We believe this is what the Bible teaches. We believe that it is good news for suffering people. We believe the alternative is hopelessness.

To strengthen the faith of God’s people in the sovereignty of God in suffering we are focusing this year’s national Desiring God Conference on Suffering and the Sovereignty of God. We have invited five very thoughtful lovers of God’s sovereignty to come help us go deeper into the wisdom and goodness of God. Joni Eareckson Tada has lived well and written well on this theme. She has agreed to speak to us from her walk with “the God she loves.”

David Powlison has eyes to see what many do not, and a heart to feel, and a way with words that can speak to the battle we all fight to keep believing. I asked him to put the gospel at the heart of this struggle, where it belongs. I am eager to see Christ and his great saving work through the eyes of David Powlison in relation to suffering.

I have asked Carl Ellis to tackle the issues surrounding suffering that comes from racial prejudice and ethnic hatred around the world. The twentieth century saw millions of people displaced and slaughtered on the grounds of racial and ethnic differences. How shall we think of God’s sovereignty in the face of such evil? How shall we deal with it in our own day?

Mark Talbot will help us tackle the issue of the freedom of the human will. Not all suffering comes from natural disease and catastrophe. Much comes from man. Is this because God is not sovereign over the will of man? How shall we think about evil that comes from the human heart?

Steve Saint, who knows first hand some of the cost of missionary service, will put the issue of suffering in the context of Christ’s call to take the gospel to the nations. The Great Commission will not be completed without suffering. We must become the kind of church that embraces this calling for Christ and his kingdom.

I will try to put these things in a biblical and practical framework Friday evening and Sunday morning in worship. In fact, corporate worship will be central to what we do together. God is not mainly to be explained. He is mainly to be admired and cherished and worshiped. I pray that he will be pleased by both explanation and exultation.

I hope you can come. Pray that God will give us light and make us lovers—especially of those who suffer.

John Piper