How should we deal with the frustration of watching the evil prosper?

Malachi 2:17You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Although it’s easy to complain when God seems to ignore others’ wrongdoing, we must be careful not to accuse God of being absent or unjust. We may not always understand what God is doing in situations that frustrate us, but we have every reason to trust that his plans are good.

Psalm 37:7-9, 12-13Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper—it only leads to harm. For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land. . . . The wicked plot against the godly; they snarl at them in defiance. But the Lord just laughs, for he sees their day of judgment coming.

Rejecting worry and anxiety when evil seems victorious isn’t easy. It requires our steadfast dependence on God and our willingness to wait for his resolution. None of our heated responses, including rage or anger, accomplishes God’s purposes (see James 1:20). And merely “being still” doesn’t help unless we are resting in the Lord’s presence. We need his fellowship as we respond to the world.

Proverbs 24:19-20Don’t fret because of evildoers; don’t envy the wicked. For evil people have no future; the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.

Frustration with the prosperity of the evil is a natural response that can lead to negative behavior. Two such behaviors are mentioned here: worry and envy. We must cancel these by remembering God’s eternal perspective. Whatever success evil appears to have can be of no lasting value.

Jeremiah 17:9-12“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” Like a partridge that hatches eggs she has not laid, so are those who get their wealth by unjust means. At midlife they will lose their riches; in the end, they will become poor old fools. But we worship at your throne—eternal, high, and glorious!

We are not to be bothered by the apparent earthly success of those who do not follow the Lord. The reward for these people is only more stuff. The reward we seek is more of God.

We are to focus our attention on God, trusting his discernment and his judgment for today and tomorrow. Our feelings may urge us to settle for the world’s meager offerings; God asks us to trust him beyond our feelings.