Why Do The Wicked Prosper And The Righteous Suffer?
Job declares himself to be righteous, but bad things happen; his friends jump to the conclusion that he has some hidden sin in his life.
Are we any different? So and so is going through a hard time so there must be sin in his or her life. But this need not always have to be true always.
Let us focus on why this happens in this life from a Biblical perspective.
1. We must see this from the point of view of final judgement.
It is very important for us to continually keep all things of this world within the broader context of eternity. Let us not forget Jesus' words: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."- John 16:33
God's final display of justice will not be observed in this life, but will be revealed when Christ comes to "judge the living and the dead" - Acts 17:31.
So, to the extent that we experience the apparent injustice of the wicked prospering while the good people suffer, we can take heart that such situations are not inconsistent with God's divine purpose.
2. We must understand that in this world, both righteous and wicked are the recipients of God's goodness.
Jesus instructs us to "love our enemies" and "pray for those who persecute us". Why? Because that's how our Father acts, who "causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" - Matt 5:45. And this serves its own purpose since this common experience allows the Christian to testify to the non-Christian of God's goodness at the level of their own experience.
3. We must accept that receiving God's goodness serves a purpose now for both righteous and wicked.
Scripture tells us that God has a purpose in blessing both the righteous and the unrighteous. For the believer, it's most of all for the purpose of experiencing his love. God loves to bless his children - Matt 7:11, so that they will live in the light of his love for them and consequently live in the appropriate posture of worship through thanksgiving toward him.
The goodness God grants the unbeliever He intends as a witness to his love. He shows them kindness in the hope that they will receive it as His kindness and turn to Him as its giver. Conversely, for those who take all the goodness they can get and receive it as its own end, "worshiping and serving created things rather than the Creator" Romans 1:25, they're storing up judgment for themselves.
As a result, God will be proved right when he renders his final judgment for greedily receiving the good he gave, while knowingly rejecting Him as its giver.
4. We must accept that experiencing evil also serves a purpose now for both righteous and wicked.
The typical objection to evil goes something like this: "If God is truly good, then wouldn't he prevent anyone from experiencing evil?" We'll leave the logical arguments aside for another discussion, but at this point simply reply that this statement is true, unless God has a "truly good" reason for not doing so.
In other words, the sometimes withholding of punishment for sin allows for the hope of ultimate justice reserved for the day of God's final judgment.
Indeed, God is withholding his full wrath, "bearing with great patience the objects of his wrath" - Romans 9:22, so that again he will be seen as righteous for his judgment in the end.
5. We must understand that God's ultimate concern is not the quality of life we enjoy, but the kind of person we become.
We must accept that God's purpose in allowing us to remain and endure suffering is again rooted in his love for us.
The fact is that God in his love is working for our ultimate good - Romans 8:28. In this life, there's but one "ultimate good" toward which God is moving us and if we are wise, we'll cooperate with him in willing ourselves to be so moved.
Suffering exposes our unlearned lessons in a way that nothing else can. Suffering exposes what's rock-bottom true of me, and if it's only through the crucible of trial and hardship that I can see my ongoing defiance against God, then for the Christian and only by faith we cry, "not my will but yours be done".
So let us divert out focus from the wicked to God.
Any time you spend questioning God or talking with others about why the ungodly prosper is time where he's diverted your focus from what God wants to do for you .... to what's happening to others.
When thoughts pop into your head about how the ungodly are prospering. . .what should you do?
Psalm 37:7 advises us to:
Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass.