We might believe that God will always protect and provide for us in the ways that we expect. We might not say we believe in the “prosperity gospel” (the idea that God promises to bless believers with health and wealth if they have enough faith), but we actually do. Author Kate Bowler discovered this when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of 35. Bowler is a historian and has written a book chronicling the rise and popularity of the prosperity gospel in American culture. She spent years researching this phenomenon and disagreed with it deeply, but her failing health made her realize that “no matter how many times I rolled my eyes at the creed’s outrageous certainties, I craved them just the same. … The prosperity gospel looks at the world as it is and promises a solution. It guarantees that faith will always make a way”