God chooses whether our lives will be full of troubles or ease; this is not a reflection of how faithful we happen to be. Good King Hezekiah had to rule through a siege of Jerusalem, while evil King Manasseh lived a long and peaceful life, dying at a good old age. All of us will face trouble of some kind sooner or later. Living a faithful and good life means to trust God whatever happens.

There are so many different concepts of what a good life looks like. Many would define it as being able to do whatever you want. Others would say that it is having enough money to buy a standard of living that brings comfort and safety. Still others would say living for your family and knowing that they are well regarded and well looked after.

In certain Christian circles, people are taught that a good life is one free from troubles including sickness and poverty. If you are faithful to God, God will bless you with a good life, a life of ease and comfort and blessing.

The Biblical answer is rather different to all of these. A life assessed by God to be a good life, one that is good and right in the eyes of the Lord, is a faithful life. We see this in the books of 1 and 2 Kings. So many people in the books of Kings are assessed as evil in God’s sight, including kings who were timid and did what their fathers did as well as domineering kings who pushed the nation away from the true God. Yet some are counted as right in God’s sight.

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