In all of the evil and unpleasantness of living in a world stained by sin, for the Christian, God never intends any of it for evil. Isn’t that such a comfort? That our God is able to take all of those things that we wish most to avoid, and mean them for our good. We can trust that, even in the real evils of the world, God is always intending them for good. So you have this great calamity that has befallen you. Do you trust that God is keeping you from all evil?

The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life (Psalm 121:7).

As I read these words, I looked around at my weak, sick, coughing children, and my miserable wife. We had been battling something not exactly the flu, but close enough, for about a week. We all felt terrible and some of the kids were running some pretty scary high temperatures. I was trying to conduct the most enthusiastic family time I could muster. “The LORD will keep you from all evil,” I said again. “But what about us? What about our sickness? Why didn’t the Lord keep us from this?”

We can just glide right past these words, appreciate the poetry and beauty of the thought, but really not be paying attention. Will He really keep us from all evil? Then why all of this… evil? Why the sickness and the sadness? Why the death and decay around us? I asked the boys why we were sick, and my oldest, quicker than I’m ever ready for said, “Adam.” Great answer. Adam sinned and plunged the world into all of this death and sickness (Rom 5:12). “But God said He would keep us from all evil. Did He fail to keep His word?” “No!” they shouted emphatically. “So why are we sick?” I’ll tell you how I answered them.

Just because we love Jesus and are saved, does not mean that bad things won’t happen to us.

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