Prosperity injures the Ungodly; Adversity blesses the Godly

Inspired from reading the journal of Whitmore Winslow, son of Octavius (1850)

Simmering behind the scenes of our daily meandering is this persistent wish that things would go smoothly. If I could get this new job or this difficult co-worker would just move on, or my daughter would be less surly toward her Mom, my life would be so much easier. But, how detestable we would all become if our lives were smooth like we wished them to be. How indifferent and lifeless we are until stirred up by adverse circumstances. O, how we should cherish every chastisement and difficult circumstance we receive from the Lord! The Lord Jesus, who adores us, sends these adversities that He knows we need so badly.

We sometimes envy worldly unbelievers because they seem to go on selfishly hurting all around them, and yet prosper year after year. But, as David concluded, things are not as they appear, to our time-bound perception. God leaves the ungodly to the course they have chosen for themselves, until one day they awake at the judgement, defenseless. Their prosperity is not the blessing they imagine it to be. It is a judgment against their enmity with God, their neglect and contempt for the means of grace, and their indifference to the suffering people around them. All of their efforts are driven by self-interest and if there is any generosity, it ends (like the Mafia) with their immediate family. The best things in this life harm the ungodly; the worst things bless the godly. Oh, how blind we often are to the truth of how Life really is. The Infinite Wisdom of God confounds the ungodly as it confounds those doomed, evil principalities and powers at work in the heavenlies.

But He watches over every step of His children as He corrects them, sometimes gently, other times severely. With the care of the Only all-wise, deeply loving Father, all that He does is for our good now and forever. O, what a mysterious life the godly weave.