Christian Devotional – October 16, 2022

The Weeping Prophet, Day 12

Why do good things happen to bad people? Read Jeremiah chapter 12.

Jeremiah comes to the Lord and asks a question that many of us have desperately wondered about through the years. Why does God allow bad people to seem to flourish and have good things happen to them? Jeremiah is looking around at the people and he sees the evil and the wickedness of the disobedience, yet he sees how they have prospered and how good things have happened to them.

God answers his question and shares with him that judgment is coming and God will utterly and completely judge the actions of others. Those who have been disobedient and unfaithful to the Lord will be accountable for what they have done. God allows people the opportunity to repent and return. The reason all of us are not utterly destroyed right now is simply because of the mercy and grace of God. If not for that, we would all be deserving of immediate death. God’s grace and mercy allows us the opportunity to learn and understand our shortcomings so that we can repent and return the Lord.

The next time we see something good happen to someone who is not following God, we can remember that God extended his grace to that person just like He did to us so that they have an opportunity to repent and return to Him.