Why life is always hard for only some people in the world even though they are good at heart and hardworking?

This can be a challenging question to answer. How do we explain why some people are poor and some people are rich? How do we explain why some people are healthy and some people are sick? Why do the rewards and consequences not always match a person’s deeds?

Actually, there isn’t really a clear answer for why some good people are poor and struggling… but it might help us to think about the idea of God’s blessing. Throughout the Bible (both the Old and New Testament), a good life is understood to be a blessed life. Those whom God blesses enjoy a good life. Receiving the blessing requires faithfulness to God; that is why, in the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses tells the people of Israel: “See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: a blessing for obeying the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I give you today; a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, but turn aside from the way I command you today, to go after other gods, whom you do not know” (11:26-28).

But what does a blessed life look like? In ancient Israel, the Jewish people saw external factors as a sign of God’s blessing: wealth, lands, and above all, children.

When Jesus comes, he gives a new answer to this question of God’s blessing—and it’s not the answer the Jews expected! Before, blessing was seen in the external signs: wealth, prosperity, strength, etc. While these things remain blessings, Jesus proclaims even greater and deeper blessings to us: the Beatitudes. The rich are materially blessed, but “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 5:3). The strong are blessed with honor and prestige, but “blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land” (Mt 5:5).

Why does Jesus do this? Is he just trying to make the poor and weak of the world feel better in their sufferings using nice words? By no means! Jesus is telling us what the most blessed life is. Material blessings are good and important, but there is a greater sign of God’s blessing… And it is “not of this world” (Jn 18:36). The blessed life is not always fulfilled in this world… Sometimes, it only comes to fulfillment in heaven. The poor in spirit and those persecuted for the sake of righteousness do not inherit the kingdoms of earth, but the “Kingdom of Heaven.” The pure of heart will “see God”—where else can we see God but in heaven? The mourning will be “comforted”—what greater comfort than in the house of our Father, who promises to “wipe every tear” from our eyes (Rv 21:4)?

On the reverse side, Jesus also shows us that the lack of material blessings is not because of our sins—see Luke 13:1-5, where he tells the story of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with pagan sacrifices and the victims who were crushed under a tower at Siloam. Or look at John 9 (Jesus healing the man born blind), where Jesus gives this correction: “His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him” (Jn 9:2-3). The presence or absence of earthly blessings is not actually a sign of a person’s holiness or relationship with God.

Our starting question was why good and hardworking people struggle through their whole lives. If we look at Jesus’ words, we can see that it’s not because they are sinners, or because they are cursed, or because they have lost God’s favor. We don’t know why God only gives material blessings to some people; however, there is an even greater blessing that he offers to all of us—the blessings of the Beatitudes! These blessings are not always easy to trust, because we do not see their fruits right away like we do with earthly blessings. In the end, though, the earthly blessings will fade away, and heavenly blessings will come: “The rich grow poor and go hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” (Ps 34:11). The Lord truly hears the cry of the poor! If we believe in his promises and look to him with hope, then we have nothing to fear! God is not angry with the poor, the afflicted, or the heartbroken; he is closer to them than anyone else, because he came to us in the same way: poor, afflicted, and heartbroken. And he promises that in the end, we will be blessed with him in the Kingdom of Heaven.