Tense Truth: God has established clearly-defined principles of life management that can make me prosper, and my tomorrow better than today. Yet for his own good purposes, God will allow me to suffer in order to further the gospel, transform my character, and mature my faith. Regardless of the what the circumstances of the moment suggest, God is for me, and will reward faithfulness, to some degree in this life, and to a much greater degree in the next.
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Mention the word “prosperity” to American Evangelical Christians and you’ll get one of two responses. The first is a kind of entranced smile – a brightened countenance very similar to the sheer delight we used to see from people at an Amway meeting.
The second is that uncomfortable, “what do you mean by that?” kind of look, suggesting that money is the world’s curse, and that people who have it must be materialistic swine or should somehow apologize or feel guilty.
So which are you? “Amen?” Or “Oh me?” Or maybe, like me, you vacillate from one to the other.
The challenge with all this is that the Bible categorically promises success to people who live according to principles or laws that God has established. “Everything he does will prosper,” the psalmist said in Psalm 1. And check out those blessings mentioned by Moses in Deuteronomy.
That said, the Bible also deals with the apparent contradiction of that – the prosperity of the wicked. Those mirroring psalms – 37 and 73 – both deal with that. The wicked does have his day, the psalmist concludes, but God has a way of sorting things out in the end, when it matters most.
Meanwhile, in the New Testament, Jesus didn’t promise a life without tribulation. On the contrary, He said we would have it, despite what people uniquely in America sometimes promise. Our rewards are presented mostly as heavenly, post-life promises. But even in places, such as here, there is the declaration that God has obligated Himself to meet all our needs.
So which is it? Suffering in this age, followed by our eternal treasure in heaven? Or timeless principles that work in the age to come, but also may be claimed, believed, and acted on here?
Yes.
Does God want you and me to be rich?
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Dylan hadn’t smiled for days. His grandmother, whom he loved dearly, had died, and the ten-year-old was crushed. His friends were worried about him, and convinced him to visit their special friend, an old man they called The Storyteller. The Storyteller loved children, and often helped them with the special stories he would make up. The Storyteller also knew Dylan’s grandmother.
