It Sounds Good, but is it Sound Doctrine?

You can be healthy. You can be wealthy. You can have everything your heart desires.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? I mean who wouldn’t want to become a Christian if you could have everything you want. The premise of these teachings is rooted in making our lives comfortable—without sickness, without sorrow, and without pain. This reminds me of something…

Heaven! But we are not there yet.

Have we forgotten what Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.”? (John 16:33) Or what Paul said, “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”?(2 Timothy 3:12) They never promised that our lives will be free of sickness, sorrow, or pain. We are in this world, but not of this world.

Many sincere people believe that sickness comes from personal sin. While there are sicknesses and sorrows that come from our personal sins—smoking increases the chance of lung cancer, sexual immorality increases the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, using drugs increases the probability of addiction with mental and emotional issues, etc… However, believers also die of cancer who never smoked a cigarette in their life.

When the Great Depression hit America—believers and unbelievers were hit with a massive financial crisis. When the Black Plague wiped out 75 to 200 million people—Christians were also affected. There wasn’t some Superman force shield to protect them from the crisis of their day.

Well Crystal…you don’t know their life. They could’ve sinned in their mind or sinned in some way that only they and God know.

True. Only God knows a person’s heart. But remember when the disciples asked Jesus about the blind man. They wanted to know who sinned…either him (must have been in the womb) or his parents. Jesus responded, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned…this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:2-3)

The big picture—God uses our pain, sickness, and sorrow to show His glory. It’s not the absence of sorrow that reveals the glory of God in your life. It’s taking the step of faith everyday no matter what is going on in you or around you.  He is glorified when you keep the faith—even in the darkest days.

Can we still love, trust, submit, and obey God’s word when everything falls apart? Yes, because we have the hope of God in our hearts. Through the Holy Spirit we are comforted in our trials, we are strengthened in weakness, and we are saved through Jesus Christ. Even in our physical death—we win.

Scripture Reference: The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.