I have been reading your articles, and have learned much from you. I co-teach a Men’s bible study every two weeks and this year we decided to study God’s word without using a study guide. My turn is coming up (probably be four sessions) I felt lead to study Psalm 91. I personally believe that this is God’s direct word of protection to and over me and my family. But, when faced with teaching and open discussion I know that the men will ask questions such as: Why do good Christian people get sick, hurt, and so on. What are your thoughts on this?
Psalm 91 is a great way to communicate God’s protective nature. As for why Christians get sick, etc. It’s a complex issue but here are some thoughts to ponder.
The world is in a fallen sin-filled state, and sin causes disease. The normal person spends a fair amount of time each day doing things that make us more vulnerable to accidents and disease rather than less. We choose to eat and drink things that are harmful to our health. We live stress-filled lives, refuse to forgive others who’ve wronged us, and refuse to ask God to forgive us when we’ve sinned.
We don’t really believe God’s promises, we don’t subordinate our will to His and we don’t obey His commandments. In short, even the best of us live in an open state of rebellion. And then we blame Him for not protecting us when things go wrong. It doesn’t make sense, does it?
By the way, have you ever met a “good” Christian? You might know people who project a good image or perform good works but does that make them “good” in God’s sight? Have your class discuss Romans 3:10-18. And remind them that Jesus refused to let Himself be called good, saying that there’s no one good but our Father in Heaven (Mark 10:18).