“Their Latter End”

Saturday, July 14, 2012

     My husband was a preacher, but he left me for another woman and went to live with her.  He left me living in his parents’ home (which I could be asked to move from), got a good job in Tennessee (not preaching), and the woman has moved in with him. Why is everything working out for him?  He is doing well; I am still going to church.  I work, have to pay all my bills, and my car is acting up.  She got him a nice Jeep.  My legs are hurting; I have a rash but don’t have the money to go to a doctor, but he goes when needed!  My question is: why is everything going so well for him?  I am 64 years old and was left with nothing; I try to do what is right by people, but yet, everything is roses for him.  I just don’t understand.

Sincerely,
Left Behind

Dear Left Behind,

Your frustration is valid, and the psalmist, Asaph, had the same frustration.  In Psalm 73, Asaph talked about his animosity toward the success of the ungodly… he said it made him so mad that he almost fell away from God (Ps 73:2).  However, Asaph finally concluded that the ungodly were not blessed because their entire existence was slippery and dependent upon their physical prosperity (Ps 73:18).  Only God’s people have an eternal hope that gives us comfort regardless of how life goes here (Ps 73:27-28).

A life of wickedness is a slippery slope – one lie leads to another until all you have is a tangle of lies and deception (Ps 73:18).  The wicked man has no peace because he is totally dependent upon his own strength and wiles for success… every moment of life is lived upon a precipice (Ps 73:19).

Contrast that life to one of a righteous man.  God holds the hand of the righteous, so they will not despair (Ps 73:23), and God is a righteous man’s counselor and friend (Ps 73:24).  Ultimately, the righteous go to heaven, and the wicked spend eternity in hell (Ps 73:25).  Sometimes, it is maddeningly difficult to see wicked people “getting away” with sin, but God reminds us to consider their latter end.

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