LESSONS

FROM A

HOSPITAL BED

John Piper

Foreword by

Joni Eareckson Tada

wheaton, illinois

Lessons from a Hospital Bed

Copyright © 2016 by Desiring God Foundation

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Jeff Miller, Faceout Studio

Cover image: Shutterstock.com

First printing 2016

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-5043-0

ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-5046-1

PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-5044-7

Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-5045-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Piper, John, 1946–

Title: Lessons from a hospital bed / John Piper ; foreword by Joni Eareckson Tada.

Description: Wheaton : Crossway, 2016. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015019155 (print) | LCCN 2015037842 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433550430 (tp) | ISBN 9781433550447 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433550454 (mobi) | ISBN 9781433550461 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Hospital patients—Religious life. | Patients—Religious life. | Diseases—Religious aspects—Christianity.

Classification: LCC BV4910.P56 2016 (print) | LCC BV4910 (ebook) | DDC 248.8/6—dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015019155

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Contents

Foreword: Before You Begin … by Joni Eareckson Tada

The Setting

Part 1

Ten Beliefs I Brought to the Hospital

Part 2

Ten Lessons from My Hospital Bed

Concluding Prayer

Scripture Index

Foreword: Before You Begin …

I know hospitals. I wish I didn’t, but over the years I’ve become all too acquainted with their stale corridors and freezing-cold operating rooms. It started back in 1967 when a reckless dive into shallow water snapped my neck, leaving me a quadriplegic. When they rushed me to the hospital on that hot July afternoon, I had no idea I wouldn’t be discharged until April 1969.

One morning I was lying on a gurney in the hallway outside the urology clinic. After two hours of waiting and counting ceiling tiles, a lab worker came through the doors to announce I would be “first after lunch break.” I moaned. My shoulders were already hurting from lying flat so long. As the urology staff headed to the cafeteria, my heart sank. More to the point, I nearly choked in a flood of fear and claustrophobia.

Crying was out. There was no one around to wipe my tears. So I decided to comfort my soul with a hymn. In no more than a whisper, I sang a favorite from church choir:

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain....