Take a moment and make a mental list. In your opinion, who are the three most popular, well-known, wealthiest, possibly even notorious, cultural icons in our world today? How did they reach that pinnacle of success? By righteous, godly living? Faithful preaching of the gospel? Do they live a life that glorifies God and draws others to Him, or do they have little time in their star-studded, glamorous schedule for anything God-related? Jeremiah voiced a complaint to God, and I often share his concern, “Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?” I must sadly admit that when faced with the conundrum of the lavish living of some ungodly characters opposed to the struggle of some faithful saints of God, I grapple to understand, and I’m not alone in my confusion.
The prophet Habakkuk voiced his query this way, “Wherefore lookest thou (God) upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue…” Why do they “become mighty in power,” asked Job, that upright, godly man living through devastating losses in his own life. Asaph, the psalmist, went a step further, admitting that he “was envious at the foolish,” because Asaph witnessed “the prosperity of the wicked.” Even King Solomon, the king with God-gifted wisdom and wealth, looked upon the seeming inequity of the ungodly’s prosperity and could find no explanation, referring to it as “a vanity which is done upon the earth.”
So obviously I would not be alone in questioning why wickedness in the form of apathy toward the things of God seems to be rewarded at times, but I would also be wrong. Even though that wealth and status may seem attractive, all is not as it seems. God responds to me the same way He has always responded to this question: Consider the ultimate fate of the those without Me in the light of eternity. Consider the end.
I must never allow myself to lose sight of the final outcome of those without Christ, regardless of their earthly fame, fortune, and power. Tragically, those without the Savior, “shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.” I tend to view life from an earthly point of view, but My Father has a heavenly one, for “he seeth that his day is coming.” When I push my flesh out of the way and consider that coming “day,” my heart is burdened for those who may seem to live without consequences. They may seem to have everything, but in reality, if they don’t have Christ, they have nothing. And then I realize that I am blessed beyond measure; I know that my future is secure. Is yours?
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Lord, forgive me for envying the wicked at times. Help me, instead, to be grateful for the gift of salvation that is mine. My eternity is secure in You.