The Hidden Smile of God by John Piper - "To Live upon God That Is Invisible": Suffering and Servi...

Описание: John Bunyan’s journey offers a vivid reminder that even the darkest valleys can lead to unexpected blessing. His prolonged imprisonment, which severed him from family and familiar comforts, served as a catalyst for deeper reliance on “God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9). Though afflicted by loneliness and the nagging worries of how his blind daughter would fare, he discovered that adversity could reveal more of God’s sustaining grace. Far from stifling his creativity, confinement ignited it. Out of the loneliness of a jail cell emerged pastoral letters, theological reflections, and eventually The Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegory that continues to uplift believers worldwide. Bunyan’s resolution not to yield his conscience, even when promised freedom, testified to his conviction that true liberty lay in obeying God rather than appeasing earthly authorities. This paradox—blessing imprisonment—arises from grasping that all trials, however painful, unfold under a divine hand that never abandons His own. By living on “God that is invisible,” Bunyan left future generations an example of steadfast faith that does not crumble when subjected to hardship. His experiences highlight how Scripture, treasured and memorized, becomes a ready sword against despair, a source of light in times of gloom. Even now, centuries later, readers find solace in Bunyan’s honesty about his doubts, struggles, and longing for spiritual assurance. They see how suffering, rather than annihilating hope, can sharpen and purify it. Bunyan’s legacy thus invites every pilgrim to embrace hardship as a crucible for forging humility, love, and unshakeable confidence in the Almighty. In the final measure, his life proclaims that no earthly chain can imprison a heart bound to Christ—and that any sorrow, endured with eyes fixed on eternal realities, can yield a harvest of strength and lasting joy.


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