God speaks through the prophet Malachi, and He addresses this complaint. In fact, God calls it harsh words against Him.
Malachi 3:13
“You have said harsh things against me,” says the Lord.
“Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’
Watch what God says next.
Malachi 3:14, 15
You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God…
But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’ ”
So, the complaint that we are prone to have as we lose faith in God, when we forget who He is and what He has done and what He will do.
Why obey God and follow Him when all the bad guys who hate Him are doing so well?
God responds to these harsh words said to and about Him.
Malachi 3:17
They will be mine,” says the Lord Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him.
God compares them to children who trust their dad even when he is not around, and they do their job and are faithful. They obey their dad because they love him. They show their trust that dad will take care of them and do what is best for them as they do their part.
God goes on to say:
Malachi 4:1-2
Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.
God will take care of those who trust Him and follow Him. He will judge those who do evil and disregard Him.
But those who revere His name…
God is calling us to trust Him as our heavenly Father. He sees calls our statements against Him, like “it is futile to serve God.” As harsh words.
He will deal with those who don’t want Him in their lives. He will remember those who fear Him, love Him, and follow Him even when it is hard, and we see that those who are against Him are currently prospering.
We can trust our heavenly Father, even in the dark. He will remember us, and He will call us His own.
