I find this question by lovinggrace to be one of the classic mysteries of life in this world. to paraphrase:

"Why are some of us born into a life of luxury given opportunities only dreamed of by royalty in times past and others suffer a misery that many of us cannot begin to fathom through no fault of their own?"

- and then you have every situation between both these extremes.

Its further complicated when we see those with every opportunity, talent and power not only to fail to act as good people but use their considerable wealth, skill and time to commit wicked act after wicked act with no conscience at all. Couple this with the fact that the Word of God is easily accessible to these people - at least physically. Jesus' commandments to "Love your God with all your Heart, Soul and Mind" and "Love your Neighbor as yourself" are as clear as day to you, but these people handle it with such wanton disregard its appalling.

For what its worth, my understanding is that God has made things exactly as they are because he knows what is necessary to teach each of our individual personalities. Some people need to be so entrenched in sin before they finally see.

Luke 6:42 - Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

These people you refer to have quite the log in their eye, yet they carry on living life the way they think it should be - just as the hypocrite above is trying to do what he thinks is right to his brother's eye without being able to see himself.

What does it take to remove that log? I believe God has predetermined the struggle you will be forced to endure for you to understand. It may not make sense or even seem fair, but nothing will be placed before you that he will not give you the strength to overcome. It sounds like you have already accepted this and have faith in asking for God's help. I think you have already answered your own question without even knowing it.

You managed to articulate what I wanted to say much more eloquently than I could have! :)

Originally Posted by lovinggrace

I'm dealing with an inner conflict. I don't understand why there are so so many people who aren't Christians or believers really of any kind, some are downright atheists or complete deniers of God, doing all kinds of evil things in this world. Yet they are totally financially secure, with no financial worry in the world. When at the same time the only stumbling block some true believers deal with is lack of money that causes severe distress. I just don't understand. :(
Any advice or scriptures to help me come to peace with this fact in the world? I'm really struggling here.

If we had everything we needed on earth we wouldnt have a need to depend on God and keep him first in our lives. being poor is actually an advantage. Luk_18:25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
it isnt easy to settle this in our heart sometimes. but once you do it makes things easier. it also makes it easier to look to the eternal and not the temporal.
God will take care of our needs. and knows about them before we even ask.

Originally Posted by lovinggrace

I'm dealing with an inner conflict. I don't understand why there are so so many people who aren't Christians or believers really of any kind, some are downright atheists or complete deniers of God, doing all kinds of evil things in this world. Yet they are totally financially secure, with no financial worry in the world. When at the same time the only stumbling block some true believers deal with is lack of money that causes severe distress. I just don't understand. :(
Any advice or scriptures to help me come to peace with this fact in the world? I'm really struggling here.

The remedy to our envy of the prosperity of the ungodly, and the key to our prosperity is;


Psalm 37
A Psalm of David.

1 I do not fret because of evildoers,
I won’t be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.

3 I trust in the LORD, and do good;
I dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 I delight myself also in the LORD,
And He shall give me the desires of my heart.

5 I commit my way to the LORD,
I trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth my righteousness as the light,
And my justice as the noonday.

7 I rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
I do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 I cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
I do not fret—it only causes harm.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off;
But I who wait on the LORD,
I shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, I will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
11 But I, the meek, shall inherit the earth,
And I shall delight myself in the abundance of peace.

12 The wicked plots against the just,
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.
15 Their sword shall enter their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.

16 The little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches of many wicked.

I often personalize scripture when I read it. I cut and paste into my word processor and do that, Try it for yourself

Originally Posted by eddieb

If we had everything we needed on earth we wouldnt have a need to depend on God and keep him first in our lives. being poor is actually an advantage. Luk_18:25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
it isnt easy to settle this in our heart sometimes. but once you do it makes things easier. it also makes it easier to look to the eternal and not the temporal.
God will take care of our needs. and knows about them before we even ask.

Oh my!! That's not what the WORD says.

Originally Posted by El Hombre viejo

Oh my!! That's not what the WORD says.

really? well you should provide scripture for your claim then. i believe thats even a forum rule.

Life is what you make of it. You reap what you sow.

Two phrases so many people are familiar with, can describe a large amount of peoples lives in this world.

Two examples:

A person graduates high school, but doesn't bother to seek further education or skill training. This person will probably not have a decent and stable job or career. If they can get a stable job, then it's going to pay really awful compared to actual jobs and careers that need a graduates degree or extensive training. Being a single parent in this position is awful, and not easy at all.

A person graduates high school, but then goes on to get a graduates degree and training. This person becomes a surgeon, and has a job that is in demand, stable, pays extremely well, and has amazing benefits. Unless this person makes too many financial mistakes, they should never have a serious issue financially. You will be able to support a large family, own a home, own cars, and have money left over for things you probably don't even need

Notice how I haven't added anything yet that has anything to do with Christianity. Which means and is obvious that any person in the correct situation can do any of these things. A Christian, Atheist, or Islamic person can become a surgeon, or end up working minimum wage jobs their entire life. Faith is required for eternal life, but it is not required to be successful in this life. Which brings me to a point: It is possible to have security without Jesus, but without Jesus eternal security is out of reach. A common atheist will not care about eternal life, so that allows them to be happy. (This part was to answer someones saying "it is impossible to have security without Jesus)

Moving on.

Seeing from above, I make the argument that we pretty much control our own decisions and future. We can make choices in life that enables us to succeed. As you can see, we missed something. The people in this world (which includes Christians) that do NOT have these chances.

Two examples: (without factoring in stupid choices, no offense)

A person in the united states graduates high school. They have two working parents. The have obtained scholarships, financial aid, and qualify for college. They go to college happily with full support from family, friends, and even the federal government. This person can end up the surgeon we talked about earlier, or they could drop out and work for minimum wage forever because they are lazy.

A person in a foreign country or a third world country even, doesn't have access to education. No elementary, middle school, high school, or college. This person will probably die very young if they live in a modern day based area. (in other words I am not talking about tribes out in the middle of the rain forest)

Of course the situations aren't limited to ANY of these examples, because they are, well, just examples.

So far I have covered in a short explanation: We control our lives and our future, unless this right was never given to us or was taken away by force. The whole purpose of this isn't to answer your question directly, but to provide you with enough information to prove that it really doesn't matter our faith when it comes to being successful on earth. Then again, this also comes down to each and everyone's different personal standards.

It's not that simple of a question though. So far I haven't seen anyone respond with a straight answer. I haven't seen any scripture provided that answers your question either. I have seen plenty of "God will provide", "Satan protects his own", and things that just hint at you to not worry about it. However the real question remains:

Why does God allow those who could care less about him have no real serious issues, while there are those in the world that worship him suffering, starving, and dying?

In my personal opinion, this is a question only God can answer straight. However, I throw my hat into the pile with you on wondering why.

I was reading your post when I came across this line.

Why does God allow those who could care less about him have no real serious issues,

It is my firm opinion that every single person has very real issues to deal with,
none escape the consequences of life on this planet.

I will list the events that every single person faces, regardless of their viewpoint or belief.

1. Sickness
2. Death
3. Loss of loved ones
4. Problems with wife/husband
5. Problems with children
6. Concerns with relatives
7. Difficulties with finances, even the rich lose money
8. Political problems
9. Economic upheavals
10. Internal and external threats
11. People with opposing viewpoints to yours
12. Getting old, tiredness, exhaustion.
13. Making really stupid decisions
14. Not knowing the answer to some tough questions
15. Etc, etc, etc.

I have met many people with real problems, problems that I do not think I could cope with.
I am not aware of anyone that does not experience the trials of life.
It may in fact be much harder to cope with for the rich and famous.

Originally Posted by David777

I was reading your post when I came across this line.

Why does God allow those who could care less about him have no real serious issues,

It is my firm opinion that every single person has very real issues to deal with,
none escape the consequences of life on this planet.

I will list the events that every single person faces, regardless of their viewpoint or belief.

1. Sickness
2. Death
3. Loss of loved ones
4. Problems with wife/husband
5. Problems with children
6. Concerns with relatives
7. Difficulties with finances, even the rich lose money
8. Political problems
9. Economic upheavals
10. Internal and external threats
11. People with opposing viewpoints to yours
12. Getting old, tiredness, exhaustion.
13. Making really stupid decisions
14. Not knowing the answer to some tough questions
15. Etc, etc, etc.

I have met many people with real problems, problems that I do not think I could cope with.
I am not aware of anyone that does not experience the trials of life.
It may in fact be much harder to cope with for the rich and famous.

Threads not about the suffering outside of financial issues or social status. Money obviously doesn't make you immune to sickness, getting old, and death.

So yeah, was talking about financial and social status issues.

Luke 18:25 (NIV)

"Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Matthew 6:24 (NIV)

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

This is about our attitude and desires, Jesus knows that we can easily be distracted with greed, afterall that is how Satan fall.

Think about having a million dollars, what will you do with it, how will you spend it, there are tons of possibilities a.k.a. distraction from the WORD.

But it doesnt mean that money is completely wrong, because this is how the world works, we need money to live.
Some people just don't use it right because they are blinded with greed. From a simple necessity it becomes a priority. Jesus is aware of this, of what money can do to people.

Successful people or well-off ones will really appear they care less, because life is easier for them and they are focus on earthly wealth.
Satan provides all this things to keep them away from seeking Jesus.
They can have materials things and luxuries, they can use it to make their health better, it becomes their savior and provider.
Thats how it goes wrong. And how they become "I dont care. I live anyway."

Yet not all of them, there are those who uses money to help others and there are those who genuinely knows how blessed they are. And these people God also uses to bless others.

I also dont think Christians are destined to be poor or unsuccessful, or we dont deserve to have money at all, but we are destined to know what is the most important. And Im sure (100%) that Jesus is right, it will be harder.

Easier for living with the world but harder for living a life beyond the world.