Some people think that if you believe in God, your life will always prosper in a very material way. You’ll always have success, abundance, a plump bank account, a clean bill of health, clear skies, and a lack of hardship.

This thinking comes in a variety of forms, sometimes called the “prosperity gospel.”

But it’s un-biblical.

Your faith in Jesus will definitely bring amazing things into your life—hope, strength, love, truth, salvation, forgiveness, purpose… the list goes on.

But there can also be a lot of difficulty too.

Just look at Jesus. He was the only perfect person to ever live. Ever. His was a life of 100% love, truth and obedience—100% of the time. And yet his life was anything but easy sailing. Just check out Luke 22:44: “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”

And then he was tortured and crucified!

If you think your faith should give you a free pass, you are
(a) possibly deluded,
(b) buying a lie that is un-biblical,
(c) mistaking God for Santa Claus,
(d) setting yourself up for failure, and
(e), perhaps blinding yourself to how a big, awesome God can and does work in and through every chapter of your life.

How quickly we forget Jesus’ words: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25).

You can’t always have it easy. But you can always have God. And that is what true wealth is all about.

By Matthew Ruttan

–Part 1 in my new teaching series called Armageddon is a conversation I had with Dr Brian Irwin. He has a big brain, big heart, and is super-engaging. You can listen in here.
–Bible quotes are from the NIV.