Question: Why is it that some people seem to lead charmed lives? They have good looks, great health, lots of natural abilities, and lots of friends—everything—while people like me seem to have no end of deficiencies and problems.
Answer: On the surface, things often don’t seem fair, but a lot goes on in every person’s life that is unseen by others. The author of the Bible’s book of Ecclesiastes wrote, “To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.”1 Not everyone goes through the same rough spots or at the same time, but everyone has their share eventually.
No life is complete without a touch of suffering, sadness, and difficulty. God allows each person to experience some sort of difficulties throughout their time on earth. He uses these times to teach us to overcome as we experience coming to the end of ourselves and then turning to Him and finding His power. It takes a desperate situation to bring that about. So, while you may look at others and think they have it so easy, you can be assured that they have troubles too.
It’s also important to remember that God often sees things quite differently than we do. We consider people blessed if they have a more carefree or obviously successful life with fewer problems, illnesses, and so on. But God’s blessings often come disguised as problems. He would rather we have a full life than an easy life. He wants our lives to be rich in faith, depth of spirit, understanding, self-sacrificial love, inner strength, and tenderheartedness. All of these treasures of spirit come from an intimate relationship with Him, often by way of trials, suffering, or surviving great difficulties. That relationship and the spiritual growth that comes with it result in a deeper and more lasting joy.
If you could “have it all” at the cost of a life of peace, completeness, and the joy that only God gives, would you want that?
- Ecclesiastes 3:1↑