“It is not what enemies will, nor what they are resolved upon, but what God will, and what God appoints, that shall be done…And as no enemy can bring suffering upon a man when the will of God is otherwise, so no man can save himself out of their hands when God will deliver him up for his glory…God has appointed who shall suffer. Suffering comes not by chance or by the will of man, but by the will and appointment of God.”
“All the ways of the persecutors are God’s. Wherefore, as we should, so again we should not, be afraid of men: we should be afraid of them, because they will hurt us; but we should not be afraid of them, as if they were let loose to do to us, and with us, what they will. God’s bridle is upon them, God’s hook is in their nose; yea, and God has determined the bounds of their rage, and if he lets them drive his church into the sea of troubles, it shall be but up to the neck, and so far it may go, and not be drowned…I say the Lord has hold of them, and orders them; nor do they at any time come out against his people but by his license and compassion how far to go, and where to stop.”
Taken from Piper's The Hidden Smile of God.
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