We've all heard the question "Why do bad things happen to good people?" But what about the reverse? It seems like many people who are very far from God are the recipients of the majority of the worldly successes of this world. Take a look at many of those in the top positions, those with the biggest houses, the most wealth, the fanciest cars, etc.. and you will find many non-Christians. Is God blessing them for some reason? If a Christian has alot of money and things, he inevitably says that God has richly blessed him. So, if I as a Christian am blessed by God with all these nice things, is not the non-Christian also being blessed?
My friends, believe me that I am well aware of the fact that worldly things and wealth are not the most important blessings to be had and, in fact, Jesus found wealth to be a huge stumbling block to entering into the Kingdom of God. But back to my question. Why do so many who are so far from God seem to be blessed with health, wealth and uncanny luck in all their pursuits when so many sincere Christ followers seem to struggle so much in these same areas? Luck is actually a term that implies some form of magical influence by an unseen "force" of some kind. It is a form of superstition. I tend to want to use this term when trying to explain good things happening to "bad" people rather than saying they are somehow, for some reason blessed by God. Am I wrong in this attribution since God, one would think, has His hand in every aspect of human existence down to the smallest details? Is God simply blessing those who cheat, lie, steal, fornicate, and adulterate for some hidden purpose of His own? Or is He really cursing them with what initially looks like blessings?
This leads to another possibility. Are these "blessings" really the acts of satan? Many people will vehemently challenge the notion that satan has the power to bless anybody. Perhaps it is merely a matter of choice of words. For isn't it true that satan has been given power in this world of ours? Didn't he offer Jesus many "blessings" (power, wealth) if only He would follow satan? I'm not suggesting that all of these "bad" people are conscious satan worshipers. But aren't there really two choices? You are either following God or you are following satan. And even those who believe they are following God are actually following satan if they choose not to believe, as the Word tells us, that Jesus is the only path to God the Father. So, I guess I would have to believe that in many cases, perhaps not all, the unbelievable "luck" and good fortune that is showered on many non-believers is the power of satan. What do you think?
Either way, we know for a fact that the material things of this world are only transitory and bring no real joy or peace to the recipients. We also know that to contemplate the question for too long as to why "good" things tend to happen to bad people is simply a sin in and of itself. It is a sin fueled by pride, envy and resentment, exactly the same thing that brought the fall of man in the first place!! So, while it is sometimes frustrating to see the most evil people flowing over with wealth and all the things of this world, remember that one cannot serve two gods. With money and power come distractions away from our main purpose here. To learn to love and serve our Lord and God. Money and power keep us focused on how to keep our money and power, while Jesus says we should instead be focusing on how to give it all away so that we can acquire real and lasting wealth in a Kingdom of which this world is only a cheap shadow.
