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  Fred Apelquist God gives 100% to all His children but we don’t give 100% to Him. When that happens, bad things happen, even to some of those people in neighborhoods who may be giving Him 100%. We are fallen people, so enough of us don’t know or do enough to even see, let alone reap, all the fruits He mercifully gives to us.

  Like · Reply · 1 · September 19 at 7:26am
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  Tim White Let me address first the individual issues. First, you cannot scold the lady who was thankful because she was thankful to God for what God had assigned her. Within that assignment, she must seek God’s purpose, which is not for her to live in “Heaven on earth”, but a ministry in that environment. Second, the lady who lived in a rough area must accept by faith that she is there under assignment of a sovereign God. There is purpose for the assignment and in that assignment, there are reasons for her thankfulness. In the minimum, she should be thankful that God found her worthy to serve in a difficult situation. That speaks highly of her. She must walk by faith that this is an assignment and seek the Master’s tasks. A writer I don’t recommend had a good analogy (although he claimed it to be more than an analogy). We all stood at the Judgment Seat of Christ, appearing as eagles. Some eagles had many gold feathers on his or her chest. Some had few, some had none. So one of them asked an angel what the beautiful gold feathers signify. The angel said it represented the suffering they went through in their lives. The one asking noticed that he could have used a lot more gold feathers. He asked the angel why God did not send him more suffering? The angel responded, “You complained about the suffering He sent.”

  Like · Reply · 5 · September 19 at 9:01am
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  Alyson Dreyer God never said we would all have the same journey to travel, only that he would be with us the whole way. To Peter Jesus said he would be crucified. He also told him not to compare himself to John or anyone else. No two of us is alike, if we were, one of us would be useless. Praise God for individuals.

  Like · Reply · 2 · September 19 at 7:49pm
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  Marc Weiss I agree with Tim , Alyson and Fred 100%. I will add that things do not always seem fair. The parable of the Talents shows that God gives different things to different people and that is His choice. Using my own situation as an example – This is going t…See More

  Like · Reply · 2 · September 19 at 8:23pm · Edited
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  Fred Apelquist Ditto & Amen!

  Like · Reply · Yesterday at 6:57am
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  Kris Cadogan Well these are my thoughts:
  I would not tell a person to stay in a bad situation because God has put them in that role for a purpose (though it may be so but I am not to determine that). It is a mark of western Christianity when people commend physical blessings more than spiritual. How often does the Church commend someone for their humble, forgiving attitude or for their spirit of patience? The real fruits of the Spirit (I certainly don’t speak for all churches lol). I often hear about how God has provided a new car or a promotion for someone etc. I challenge those who are considered rich to ask themselves if they would be content in Christ if they were poor and didn’t know where food was coming from. I often wonder if God were to allow all Christians today to undertake the “the test Satan afflicted Job with” if they would make it (not being judgmental). A Christian in the western world automatically thinks that material riches are always blessings from God as a reward for their “good diligence”. I challenge this limited assertion, simply because it is cultural, the world tells us that the more stuff we have the better off we are and Christians translate this into their relationship with God( at its extreme give rise to the prosperity gospel). Not saying that God doesn’t reward his servants, he does. All I am saying is that perhaps we should not view material riches as being the highest form of blessings that we can hope to receive.
  
  The thinking goes that the “have nots” are less blessed/not being blessed and that it is their responsibility to remain in this supposed state of receiving inferior blessings( heard this too many times from Christians) . I honestly believe that some who have nothing in this life will be greater in eternity than those who claim that God have blessed them abundantly. (Like Tim’s analogy demonstrates).
  
  I always found it hard to understand why God would create some so poor and others not so poor (but then I remember Jesus was also poor so he didn’t spare himself from this type suffering). This inequality among believers breeds an attitude of pride and favoritism amongst those that have. They say “my relationship with God is better and he favors me more than you because of all that he has given me”. This type of thinking begets envy, jealousness and ultimately disillusionment with the faith. Perhaps Revelation 3:17 applies to these type of people.

  Like · Reply · 1 · Yesterday at 8:49am
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  Fred Apelquist Kris, I don’t believe (well, I certainly hope this is the case!) that many people in the West think blessings are for good behavior and that material wealth is a sign of success or goodness. When I say God has blessed me – for good economic conditions, or a wonderful family, etc. — I am fully aware that such is due to his mercy and has nothing whatsoever to do with any actions I’ve taken. I can never be good enough to merit any ‘reward’ from God based on my goodness. Similarly, I believe (or certainl want to) that not that many people would associate hardships with lesser blessings or care from or love by God. I, too, find poverty and violence and pestilence and a lot of other things hard to understand, but I must work hard to maintain my faith and pray that, if ever needed for whatever reason, God will reveal the answer to the quesiton to me.

  Like · Reply · 1 · Yesterday at 11:24am
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  Alyson Dreyer We must not forget that each one in Christ is blessed with every spiritual blessing, every, not some more than others. What more could we possibly ask for? God gives to each as he sees fit and to each what they can handle. Some who find this life easy may not endure in the faith if they were tested severely. All who desire to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. That would be a truer sign of a Godly relationship I think.

  Like · Reply · Yesterday at 12:01pm
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  Aaron Switzer John 21:18-22 may be helpful here. Jesus calls all of us to walk through different circumstances.

  Like · Reply · 19 hrs
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  Aaron Switzer Oops, I see that Alyson Dreyer already made this point. Sorry for the repeat.