Why do selfish, dishonest people seem to get away with so much? 

Why do selfish, dishonest people seem to get away with so much? If God can’t protect the virtuous from illness or from other people’s cruelty, couldn’t God send a few thunderbolts in the direction of the mean, crooked people in this world? And If He is not sure who they are, we could probably supply a few names. For example, I can think of a half dozen well placed funerals which might benefit the world. But my candidates for eternity are still very much alive and prospering, while I can think of some fine, decent, upstanding good people whose backs are to the wall. It doesn’t seem fair to me.

Actually, the problem is as old as the Bible itself. Jeremiah, Habakkuk and the writers of the Psalms often appear to be more concerned about the prosperity of the wicked than the sufferings of the good. Psalm 37 admonishes us not to be troubled about the fact the wicked prosper in the world, because their end is sure and they will be “cut off.” That is all well and good, but what I would like to know is when?

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount said, “God sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Mt 5:45). When we hear that verse we think, “Yes, that is the way it usually works out. You plan a picnic and it rains.” One person wrote, “The rain falls on the just and the unjust fellas, only the unjust have the umbrellas!” But when you think of water symbolizing God’s grace, the verse does not mean that bad things happen to good people, but that good things happen to bad people. God is impartial and loves even the wicked so there is hope. After all we are all sinners. God loves us anyway!