Hold strong

The Lord approves of those who are good, but he condemns those who plan wickedness. Wickedness never brings stability, but the godly have deep roots. (Proverbs 12:2-3)

Some may think wickedness can be overlooked, but as quickly as a wicked person's plans are set in motion, the godly put down even deeper roots! The only way to withstand wickedness is by being deeply rooted in Christ. Roots solidly planted in God's protective soil will be 'hold strong', 'find anchorage', and 'be able to bring nourishment' to the soul.

Wicked people rise up quickly, but their influence soon wanes as people begin to get a whiff of their vile plans. Search for evil, and it will find you! (Proverbs 11:27) The godly seek good, finding it in God's favor. Teh evil find no favor, therefore their influence will eventually begin to turn. They may think they have the favor of their 'public', but that favor is soon lost when the vileness of their actions begins to become evident.

Wickedness has a way of creating its own INSTABILITY. Perhaps that is one way we can always identify wicked plans - they promise great things, but lack the substance to deliver on those promises or plans. It is all smoke and mirrors for the wicked - cunning deception attempting to sway the hearts and minds of those around them.

As Proverbs 13 reminds us, "Trouble chases sinners" (vs. 21). The godly are actually chased by God's blessings. There is no evil plan great enough to interfere with God's blessings in the lives of the godly. Try as they might, the plans of the wicked will only lead to trouble. For them and those who follow them, their influence will soon wane, leaving only death and destruction in their wake. Just sayin!

The right words, but the wrong heart

Lord, you always give me justice when I bring a case before you. Now let me bring you this complaint: Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy? You have planted them, and they have taken root and prospered. Your name is on their lips, but in their hearts they give you no credit at all. But as for me, Lord, you know my heart. You see me and test my thoughts. (Jeremiah 12:1-3)

God never turns a deaf ear to our questions. This may come as good news to some who think they ask too many questions, but God isn’t put off by our questions. He is always open to hearing our concerns. As Jeremiah is seeing the people of Jerusalem taken captive, armies attacking and taking away their homeland, many are crying out, while others are uncertain as to why they are under attack. Jeremiah presents the issue at hand: The wicked take root and they are prospering. He wants to know how this could have happened ‘under God’s watch’. It appeared God had actually ‘planted them’ and allowed them to prosper. Jeremiah just doesn’t understand how this could be the case.

The more we attempt to understand how evil people can seem to enjoy so much ‘good’ in this world, the harder it is for us to not question how God can allow this to continue. Does God find it unacceptable for us to question this occurrence? Not at all, but we should never drift over into questioning his providence or his protection. There are times he will allow certain things to happen to set things up for what he is about to do next (providence). He uses human circumstances to bring about his divine plan. When Jeremiah saw the evil prospering, all the while talking so plainly about God, he saw a disconnect between their actions and their heart. The words were right, but the heart was deceitful.

He is really asking God how he allows such a blatant display of ‘disconnection’ from the one true God. Jeremiah had kept his heart pure – refusing to embrace the culture around him. He had a ‘settled heart’. He wasn’t going to be ‘consumed’ by the ravaging armies because he knew he served a greater God than these nations. There will be times when we find others being ‘consumed’ by the pressures of the times, prospering well during a not so ‘God-honoring’ set of circumstances. They might even say all the right things, but their heart reveals no depth of relationship, no desire to remain pure in the midst of compromising circumstances.

In these moments, we stand in whatever it is we have trusted in the most. Either we stand with the world, or we stand with the one true God. We either trust in the things we can figure out on our own, or we press into God to get his perspective. Jeremiah chose to press in – to bring his ‘complaint’ to God so he could get HIS perspective on what was happening. Sometimes that is all we can do – bring it to God and then listen when he answers. Just sayin!

Hey, I want that, too!

Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose hearts are pure. But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. (Psalm 73:1-3) 

I imagine we all have those moments when we see stuff happening around us in this world, then stop to ponder how has the world 'gone so wrong' in its actions and beliefs? We might not understand how the wicked prosper, the misguided rise to positions of power, or the righteous lose out on what appears to be so much. That doesn't mean we lose our faith in the one who holds all mankind in his hands and will eventually bring all to judgment - the good, the bad, and the worst. Moments of doubt and confusion come to all of us - we just have to press into our faith a bit harder, so those doubts aren't given any ground to fester. Emotions will surface that indicate we are struggling a bit with what we see, hear, or imagine, but those emotions don't have to be denied. They are real, so the sooner we acknowledge them, the quicker we can seek God's help in 'settling them'. What really helps during those times of struggle is our friends who come alongside us. We need each other to help us when our faith begins to weaken, or when our emotions seem to be getting the best of us. 

When we observe the wicked prosper, it is possible we have a little bit of our own battle stemming from our pride? After all, we want to prosper, as well. We want the 'good stuff' to happen in our lives - is that wrong? No, it is not, but we might not realize just how quickly our pride can be dashed upon the cold, hard ground of disappointment and failure! To become prosperous or be elevated to a position of power in this world is not wrong. We might even want our lives to be kind of carefree and without all the hurdles we could encounter along that path to success. To pursue the path out of prideful ambition is when we run into difficulties. To pursue a path that 'gives us everything we desire' may just throw us into a greater pit of emotional distress than we were in when we found ourselves with a bit of envy toward those who 'had' what we did not. If we were honest, when the wicked succeed and prosper in their ways, we might even want them to 'get what is coming to them'. Is that wrong? Vengeance is, but to desire to see righteousness succeed and wickedness decline is never wrong. 

We might just see the wicked doing the same old things - things that don't bring God honor or give way to justice for all mankind. That might even begin to bother us more and more as we see them succeed in their ways and righteous individuals seemingly 'fail' as they attempt to forward their beliefs. It is hard to stand in observation of the 'little guy' being trodden underfoot, but we must never lose sight of the 'BIG GUY' who always walks with the 'little guy' on this earth! God doesn't want us to be tempted to compromise our faith, making choices to follow after things or people who will distract us or dissuade us from our walk with him. He will always intervene in our lives any time we allow our pride to create a yearning for the path of the wicked. This is a very good thing, because we aren't always capable of discerning those two diverging paths on our own! God's presence will always help us know when pride is drawing us away from the narrow path and down the one that will eventually cause the wicked to stumble. Just sayin!