The hospital is a peculiar place. It’s also a place I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. The hospital strips you of any independence you might have, with the incessant beeping of machines and monitors, or forever waiting on test results. Fear creeps in, too. It’s unavoidable amid the uncertainty. Some hospital visits are the last place a person will go. It’s awful. You don’t know if you’ll ever see your friends and family again. The hospital can be a wretched place.
Small Book, Big Truths
But in this short book, Lessons From a Hospital Bed, John Piper argues that even though it can be a fretful and frightening place, the hospital is nevertheless a place where God is at work.
Even though it’s a frightening place, the hospital is nevertheless a place where God is at work.
Piper’s brief book—less than 8,000 words—is one I wish I’d read sooner. Living with an incurable autoimmune disease, I have seen the inside of a fair share of hospitals. For most of those visits, all I knew was fear, feeling as though darkness lurked in every hallway. I didn’t see or believe that God works in such places. But this book helped me to see things differently. For while suffering is being experienced in every room, and the sounds of lament aren’t unusual, the hospital can be a place filled with joy, to the glory of God; with the assurance of God’s purposeful presence.
Throughout this book, Piper reminded me that even in my darkest moments, I’m not alone. So too, in yours, you aren’t alone. God is with you. His word remains true. His promises are sure. He is steadfast, and he’ll continue to lead and guide.
Lessons From a Hospital Bed
John Piper
Lessons From a Hospital Bed
John Piper
Physical sickness affects more than just our bodies. It takes a toll on our emotional and spiritual health as well. In this honest book, John Piper shares ten lessons he learned while in the hospital.
Written to help those in the hospital focus their attention on God, his grace, and his plan, this short book blends together personal narrative with biblical reflections to help readers rely on the God who stands ready to comfort and support his people.
Praying for Healing
Like anyone else in my situation, I prayed for healing. Again, like many others, it felt as though those prayers went unheard. But through Piper’s writing, God opened my eyes. I saw that even though God hadn’t answered my prayers with healing, I hadn’t arrived at a dead end. Instead, I had the opportunity to step back and prayerfully reflect on what God is doing. I had to confront the realisation that God’s will was different to my own in the situation. And therefore, I needed to ask what his purpose was in my pain.
We must also trust him and his timing.
Piper’s book reminded me that prayer is important. But that sometimes we must wait on God. Without hesitation, we should ask God for healing; to relieve ourselves or a loved one from their pain. Only, as Piper goes on, we must also trust him and his timing.
Furthermore, Piper exhorts believers to retain their joy, because beyond all doubt we can know that God has healed the deepest disease—the damning disease of sin. As Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32). God might heal. But he never turns away a repentant sinner. And that healing lasts for eternity.
Prayer is a beautiful means of grace. It’s a gift from God. But in prayer we must entrust ourselves to God’s providential care, even if that means countless nights in a hospital.
The Temptation to Complain
In the second part of his book, Piper weighs the temptations that arise during times of sickness and hospital stints. I must admit, I was very convicted. For I realised how often in our hospital bed we make everything all about ourselves. We become self-absorbed in our own situation, so much so that we don’t comprehend or consider anything else.
We become self-absorbed in our own situation.
Worry takes over. Why is the nurse taking so long to respond? What is the meaning of that beeping? Is my IV in properly? Boredom can dominate too. Instead, we should take a step back and recognise that 200 years ago, you’d likely already be dead in this situation. What a blessing from God: modern medicine. This isn’t to suggest your situation isn’t important; nor that you’re invaluable. But there is much room for gratitude. God is at work, in our world, all around us.
At the same time, however, our day and age has led us to expect everything to work. When things aren’t going our way we quickly become upset, grumbling and complaining. This is the result of purely focusing on ourselves, forgetting that we have an inextinguishable hope and joy.
God Is at Work
How do you see your time in hospital? It is a period in which you think you can’t serve the Lord; or that the Lord isn’t at work? Friends, there is purpose in your pain. We serve a sovereign God. He has a mission for the world; and you’re a part of it. “Shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life” (Philippians 2:15-16).
There is purpose in your pain. We serve a sovereign God.
In closing, I highly recommend this book by John Piper. Every sufferer will benefit from his pastoral care and passion for God’s glory. Lessons From a Hospital Bed has been what I can only describe as a wonderful grace in my own life. All those who are suffering and feeling downcast, you have my prayers. And I hope you’ll consider this book, from one sufferer to another.
Indeed, the Lord takes away, but he also gives (Job 1:21). For now, let us trust in God’s timing through our illness. Throughout it, we can know that God is always working things out in his loving purpose (Romans 8:28).
