Quoting Piper

I'm really enjoying Pierced by the Word, which is a 30-day devotional by John Piper. I like devotionals, but it seems I just can't stick with the same one for a whole year. When I realized that The P-D Life was not going work for me as a devotional, I cast about for an alternative, and found the Piper book. A couple of days back, I read Piper's entry for Day 24, called "The Strange Ways of Our Wonderful Builder." In this passage, Piper is meditating on the overall purpose of Christ to build his church. "I will build my church," he says, "and the gates of hell will not stand against it." Absolutely nothing can prevent Him from establishing His kingdom. His will WILL be done.

Now, of course it's sometimes difficult to accept this. We look around, and we just don't see it happening. And Piper asks, "So then, was this all-ruling Christ building His church on September 11?"

And Piper answers:

What if Christ saw the planes heading for the destruction of thousands and the upheaval of nations? What if, at the same time, He saw 200 million Hindu untouchables in India, the Dalits? What if He saw that His centuries-long work of dislodging them from Hindu bondage was about to come to consummation in our day and they were contemplating embracing Islam or possibly Christianity or Buddhism? And what if He foresaw that this Islam-related terror against civilians in New York would have a mass effect of tilting millions of Dalits away from Islam and toward Christ? What if He withheld His power from stopping the terrorists because (along with ten thousand other hope-filled effects) He had a view to the everlasting life of millions of untouchables in India? And if not thins, perhaps my grandchildren will tell a better story of sovereign grace, which only time reveals?

Interesting, no?