Job 36

“If they listen and serve him, they complete their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasantness” (v11). It’s tempting to believe, like Elihu and Job’s other friends believed, that earthly prosperity is the mark of God’s favor. People who are financially stable and have high-status jobs must be “doing something right.” While there are benefits to following God’s ways (deep peace and a clean conscience, for example), the truth is that the righteous experience trouble, and sometimes evil people prosper.

Only God is “perfect in knowledge” (v4) and wisdom. At the right time He will make “all things work for good” (Rom 8).