Why do people often seem to get away with evil?

Isaiah 32:7-8The smooth tricks of scoundrels are evil. They plot crooked schemes. They lie to convict the poor, even when the cause of the poor is just. But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity.

Sometimes evil people seem to be able to do anything they want and not only get away with it but flourish. God has promised, however, that in his time everyone will be judged, evil will be exposed, and the righteous will prevail. If righteousness always prevailed on earth, then people wouldn’t be following God for the right reasons; they would follow him only to have easy lives. God doesn’t promise the absence of evil on this earth. In fact, he warns that evil will be pervasive and powerful. But God promises to help us stand against evil; and if we do, we will receive our reward of eternal life with him in heaven, where evil will be no more.

Psalm 73:3, 10-11I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. . . . And so the people are dismayed and confused, drinking in all their words. “What does God know?” they ask. “Does the Most High even know what’s happening?”

Jeremiah 12:1-2Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy? You have planted them, and they have taken root and prospered. Your name is on their lips, but you are far from their hearts.

Many, even the biblical authors, have struggled with the fact that not only does evil often go unpunished on this earth but evildoers actually seem to get ahead!

Psalm 73:17-20I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked. Truly, you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction. In an instant they are destroyed, completely swept away by terrors. When you arise, O Lord, you will laugh at their silly ideas as a person laughs at dreams in the morning.

Everyone will someday stand before God’s judgment seat. The present prosperity of evildoers is only temporary.