Whether we’re talking about the children of Israel during biblical times or present-day Christianity, mankind has a tendency to have problems when things always go well.
There is this temptation to think that we don’t need God because we have things under control. We bask in prosperity and success, and tend to put the Lord and his kingdom on a shelf.
The Apostle Paul seems to address this in 2 Corinthians 12: “To keep me from becoming conceited ... there was given me a thorn in my flesh ... to torment me.” We don’t know what these afflictions were, but we do know that they kept Paul humble. God knew that with all the great things happening through Paul’s ministry, there would be a good chance Paul would end up desiring the credit and would be less dependent on the Lord.
Paul asked the Lord three times to deliver him from them, and the Lord said “no,” but assured Paul that he would receive the grace to get through them.
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ and everything is going well, be careful that you don’t get conceited and forget where your power of success comes from and your purpose in life.
If you are going through struggles, realize that the Lord may be using them to keep you humble. You might end up echoing the words of Paul: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”