The world often seems unfair. Good people suffer while evil people often appear to have an easy life. Most people instinctively know that evil should be punished and good rewarded. If God is just why do the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper?

This question is one that has troubled God’s people for thousands of years. Psalm 73 describes the problem well, “I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride serves as their necklace; violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with abundance; they have more than heart could wish. They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression; they speak loftily. Behold, these are the ungodly, Who are always at ease; They increase in riches.” (Psalm 73:3-8, 12)

The prophet Habakkuk saw unrestrained wickedness increasing and the ungodly threatening to overwhelm the righteous. He cried out to God, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he?” (Habakkuk 1:13) The prophet’s words echo the cry of many hearts. However, Scripture does not just raise the question. God gives troubled men an answer to this perplexing problem.

The answer revealed in Psalm 73 and in the book of Habakkuk still applies today. The prosperity of the wicked is temporary while the blessing of the righteous will be eternal. God also assures all men that the wicked will not escape judgment. “Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors.” (Psalm 73:18-19) Habakkuk 2 pronounces five woes on the ungodly and Habakkuk 3 promises that God will deliver the righteous. The do prosper for a little while, but their prosperity will expire. The wicked will be cut off. God will establish the righteous in joy that will never cease.

Judgment will certainly fall on the wicked. Reward will certainly be given to the righteous. However, judgment and reward are never fully doled out in this life. As a result, many people feel as if the wicked are never judged and the righteous are never rewarded. The problem is that most people do not think beyond this life. Most people act as if this life is everything. That perspective is wrong.

The Bible reveals this life is not all there is. Existence, suffering and joy do not end at death. Every person continues to exist in a conscious state and is able to experience sorrow and joy. What a person is given after this life they will never lose. All the good things gained in this life are kept for only a short time. All the good things received in Heaven are kept forever. All the horrors suffered in this life will be endured for only a short time. The judgment after death will have no end. The wicked may prosper right now, but the righteous will be comforted forever. (Luke 16:25) The righteous may suffer now, but the wicked will be punished forever.

When a person can learn to view life through the eyes of faith he will see that God may not be bring full judgment on to the wicked right now, but He will not fail to judge everyone in eternity. A life of ease and prosperity now is a poor substitute for an eternity of joy. “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)