Did God really forsake Jesus Christ upon the cross? Then from the desertion of Christ singular consolation springs up to the people of God… (1) Christ’s desertion is preventive of your final desertion. Because He was forsaken for a time you shall not be forsaken forever. For He was forsaken for you… (2)…Though God deserted Christ, yet at the same time He powerfully supported Him. His omnipotent arms were under Him, though His pleased face was hid from Him. He had not indeed His smiles, but He had His supportations. So Christian, just so shall it be with thee. Thy God may turn away His face, He will not pluck away His arm.
— John Flavel (1627–1691), Puritanischer Prediger
Topics: Suffering & the Question of God, Faith & Trust
Occasions: Comfort
John Flavel
John Flavel war ein englischer puritanischer Geistlicher und Autor des 17. Jahrhunderts, der nach dem Verlust seiner Pfarrstelle durch die Uniformitätsakte von 1662 vor allem verdeckt in Dartmouth wirkte. Er wurde durch theologische Schriften über die göttliche Vorsehung, innere Herzensprüfung und seelsorgerlichen Trost in Krisenzeiten bekannt. Heutigen Bibellesern vermittelt sein Werk einen Einblick in die Verbindung von reformierter Glaubenslehre mit praxisnaher Seelsorge und Alltagsfrömmigkeit.
All quotes by John Flavel (30)
In our own woundedness, we can become sources of life for others.
Henri Nouwen
Ultimately mourning means facing what wounds us in the presence of One who can heal.
Henri Nouwen
C.S. Lewis
When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become.
Henri Nouwen
He has chosen not to heal me, but to hold me. The more intense the pain, the closer His embrace.
Joni Eareckson Tada
Etty Hillesum
God writes straight even on crooked lines.
Paul Claudel
God lets us walk no path that he himself has not walked, and on which he does not go ahead of us.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer