The Bible’s assurances of protection from illness
For one college student, Psalm 91 in the Bible – and its promises of God’s protection – brought quick and tangible help when she became ill.
Over many years, I have been grateful for the reality of God and God’s care, which the Bible brings to light. The assurance we get from the Bible is that God is present, protecting us, and revealing unto us our safety in Spirit. Take Psalm 91, for example – a joyful and confident outpouring of the safety, calm, and fearlessness that each of us, every man, woman, and child, can naturally experience as God’s spiritual creation, even in the face of extreme difficulties.
The Amplified Bible puts the Psalmist’s words in this way: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]” (verse 1, Classic Edition). The psalm continues, “For you, the Lord is a safe retreat; you have made the Most High your refuge. No disaster shall befall you, no calamity shall come upon your home” (9, 10, The New English Bible). These truths have great significance and promise for each of us when confronted with the threat of harm.
Studying Christian Science over many years has deepened my understanding of many Bible passages, including the above. For instance, in “The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany,” Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, says, “The ‘secret place,’ whereof David sang, is unquestionably man’s spiritual state in God’s own image and likeness, even the inner sanctuary of divine Science ...” (p. 244).
This secret place or spiritual state is the reality of our being in God right now. And since God’s being is infinite goodness, purity, harmony, and grace, we reflect these qualities as God’s image. Christian Science helps us discern this true, spiritual existence, which frees us from the belief that we are subject to conditions that don’t express these qualities, such as disease. No safer place can we find than this spiritual state, and as we apprehend that it is our true existence, that understanding becomes our protection.
I’ve had many experiences of this protection. Many years ago, when I was in college, I had a very heavy cold. I was sharing a dorm room with three other young women. I certainly wanted to be considerate of others’ concerns and not neglect caring for myself. But I also had confidence that Christian Science could heal me. It was helping me see that my unity with Spirit as a child of God gave me the authority to be what God caused me to be – wholly good, spiritual, and not subject to anything harmful.
I called a family friend who was a Christian Scientist to pray with me, and to help me see the present perfection and indestructibility of my relation to God. The impact was immediate. When I hung up the phone, it was like a faucet was turned off. The cold was gone instantly, and I was completely healed. That was wonderful. But what I remember most from that moment is a confidence, joy, and absolute certainty I felt of divine Love’s all-presence and supremacy.
This healing of a common cold was based on consistent, reliable, divine laws. These same laws of God are equally applicable to other illnesses that we might face. Fear and sickness recede when human consciousness yields to the all-presence of divine Love. In the secret place of spiritual reality, Love’s reflection of its qualities in its creation nullifies any harmful influence.
Our lives are secure in the secret place of the Most High. Allowing this truth to govern our moments and days reveals God’s ever-operative power in our human experience not only as healing and restoration, but as a preventive of sickness as well.