Many Christians sadly have the view that because they follow God their life should be great. As long as they pray hard enough, and do the right things then they will have what they desire. This mindset is not what we find in the Bible. The Bible engages in the complexity that there are people who are bad that have significant lives and good people whose lives are not great. We must have an awareness that following Jesus does not mean that you will have a life of ease. Rather, the perk of following Jesus is that no matter what your life looks like God is present with you.
The promises we find in the Bible are not ones of ease, but promises of God's presence invading our everyday lives. This mindset leads to the thought that we can control our own destiny and find fulfillment ourselves. Even though we say we are looking to God for fulfillment, if we believe God will give us fulfillment for doing the right things then ultimately we are God. The Wisdom books (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, Song of Songs) explore this paradox and the conclusion they come to is not just do whatever you want because we are not the ones in control, rather the Wisdom books tell us we should pursue God because even if we do not get what we want, we will find all that we need in God. No matter what our lives look like, our perspective will shift on what is important. The Wisdom books do not promise that your situation will change, but it promises that the fear of God is the path to all wisdom and in God's wisdom we find life.
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