Pray for Piper

John Piper has been recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and his surgery is scheduled for February 14. More information can found here so we can pray together with him. Having gone through recently what might be considered insignificant compared to Piper's diagnosis, I can testify so much more to what he shares in his announcements than if I hadn't experienced a small version of it myself.

With four small incisions in my abdomen healing away, I agree with Piper on the many reasons to "pray for God's sovereign hand to be on man and machine" as he also undergoes a laparoscopic procedure. It is God's grace on those who no longer need to be cut wide open!

Even after the surgery, I've had conversations with Andy about how we would know if the surgeon I had was good or not. We just went with what our family doctor recommended, no second opinions, no excessive consideration of alternative treatments. A lot of "what ifs?" did come up. But our conclusion was as Piper puts it, "The best surgeon can have a bad day. An average surgeon can have a really good day. In the end, God decides." In God, there is no "What if?" And I would also have to say Amen to what Piper quoted John Newton in saying: "Everything is needful that He sends; nothing can be needful that He withholds."

So let us pray with John Piper, not for changing the eternal plan of God, but for our sanctification and for His glory.