"And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you."
2 Chronicles 24:20
One of the footnotes here points to Mosiah 7:29, which says in part "I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not." ... I think that we sometimes feel that this whole idea is unfair. We want God to bless our lives all the time, whether we are doing the right thing or not. And other times it seems arbitrary, because we see people who we think aren't even trying to be good prospering. God is supposed to be there for us all the time, right?
I don't think that "prosper" here means much in a monetary way. That isn't really what God is about. Prospering here is having the spirit, being able to feel God in our lives and commune with him on a daily basis. Monetary gain is often fleeting, and although God of course blesses us that way sometimes, when we need it, it doesn't follow that rich people are worthy and poor are not... or the other way around. Just like health and sickness aren't related directly to holiness either.
God is there for us all the time, at least in a repentance way... he is there if we truly want to repent and work with him, but it isn't always easy. He isn't going to reward us for bad behavior in a spiritual sense... we actually have to want to do better in order to connect with God and get his help in doing so... he forsakes us exactly as much as we forsake him. When we turn around, he will be there... but we have to turn around. We don't get to have spiritual comfort in our lives just because we want it. It's the kind of comfort that at least partly comes from our confidence that we are on the right track, and in tune with God... we can't get it if we aren't. ... Today, let's make sure that we don't forsake the Lord, and lose that precious connection. And if we already have, let's do everything we can to correct that mistake and return to the Lord.
2 Chronicles 24:20
One of the footnotes here points to Mosiah 7:29, which says in part "I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not." ... I think that we sometimes feel that this whole idea is unfair. We want God to bless our lives all the time, whether we are doing the right thing or not. And other times it seems arbitrary, because we see people who we think aren't even trying to be good prospering. God is supposed to be there for us all the time, right?
I don't think that "prosper" here means much in a monetary way. That isn't really what God is about. Prospering here is having the spirit, being able to feel God in our lives and commune with him on a daily basis. Monetary gain is often fleeting, and although God of course blesses us that way sometimes, when we need it, it doesn't follow that rich people are worthy and poor are not... or the other way around. Just like health and sickness aren't related directly to holiness either.
God is there for us all the time, at least in a repentance way... he is there if we truly want to repent and work with him, but it isn't always easy. He isn't going to reward us for bad behavior in a spiritual sense... we actually have to want to do better in order to connect with God and get his help in doing so... he forsakes us exactly as much as we forsake him. When we turn around, he will be there... but we have to turn around. We don't get to have spiritual comfort in our lives just because we want it. It's the kind of comfort that at least partly comes from our confidence that we are on the right track, and in tune with God... we can't get it if we aren't. ... Today, let's make sure that we don't forsake the Lord, and lose that precious connection. And if we already have, let's do everything we can to correct that mistake and return to the Lord.
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