Malachi 3:14-15 Devotional Scripture - What To Do When The Wicked Prosper

In Malachi 3 God accuses his people of saying terrible things about Him.  God tells them,

You have said, “What’s the use of serving God? What have we gained

by obeying his commands or by trying to show the

Lord of Heaven’s Armies that we are sorry for our sins?”

 Malachi 3:14-15

It was a spiritually dark time for Israel - the priests were drenched in corruption and wickedness seemed to be prospering. God’s people saw the prosperity of wicked and felt as though it was useless to serve God as long as those who didn't serve Him seemed to have it so good. When they saw the wicked rewarded and the righteous suffer, it made them think that God had forgotten their good. But in this chapter, Malachi promises that God will remember those who remain faithful to Him.

The day is coming when everything that is wrong will be made right. When Jesus returns and rules on this earth, evil will be quickly punished and this judgment will last for eternity. But there is great hope and great reward waiting for those who have believed on Jesus. Malachi 4:2 says that when we see the final resolution of all things we will be so happy that we will jump around like calves let out of a pasture.

We have a few cows on our property.  They summer in our field and winter at my parent’s place.  In the winter, when the cows are released into the field, they leap with joy because they are so happy to be at their winter home.  When they come back to our house in the summer they do the same thing. They always look so carefree and joyful leaping around our field.

When Jesus returns, that is what it is going to be like for those of us that have put our trust in the Lord.  The Lord will be like the warmth of the sun that brings healing, joy and wholeness. That is the truth that we need to focus on when we are tempted to believe the lie that the wicked are prospering and the godly are suffering. Jesus is coming back and when He does we will look at his judgments and say together, “True and righteous are Your judgments, God,” as we leap with joy as calves let out of the pasture.