Have you ever had one of those moments when you couldn’t understand why things were they way they were and you got mad at God?  If we’re being truthful, the answer is probably, “yes.”  Though I’m generally even-tempered and a positive person, I’ve had my share of frustration with the Lord.  Sometimes we question ourselves for getting upset with the Lord.  We think we’re not supposed to question God.   In reality, these are often the moment of growth in our relationship with Him.  In our doubt and in our questions we can draw closer to Him.  Honestly, I think He just wants us to ask.  He already knows our hearts – so we might as well talk with Him about it.

Jeremiah had one of these moments in chapter 12.  He was questioning God’s justice.  He asked God, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?  You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit.  You are on their lips but far from their hearts.” (Jer. 12:1b- 2).  Jeremiah goes on to say that he has been true to the Lord and the Lord should know that he is faithful.  In the previous chapter we learned that the very people Jeremiah was trying to speak the truth to about the Lord were trying to kill him.  Jeremiah is trying to be a faithful follower of the Lord, but is struck by how prosperous the people are who only serve the Lord on the surface (or who claim with their lips to love God).

I’m not totally sure of Jeremiah’s motives.  I’m not sure if he genuinely wanted to know why people prosper who were not fully following the Lord, or if he was jealous and wanted to know why he wasn’t prospering.  Either way, I think those of us who are following God with our whole heart have asked this question from time to time.  I don’t have a good answer to the question of why some prosper and some don’t.  All I know is that God’s much more interested in my heart than my status in life.  I don’t always see it through His eyes.  Sometimes I look through my worldly eyes and see a worldly vision of success.  Help me Lord, to see success from your perspective.  Give me a bigger vision of who you’ve created me to be and my purpose on earth.