Can the non-believer experience a blessed life?

Can the non-believer experience a blessed life??

????????????A family member mentioned this topic to me and suggested a good topic to write on for this week. I initially wasn’t sure I wanted to take this topic on, but changed my mind as I thought more deeply about it. Today, we suspect or know many successful or prominent people in society are unbelievers. Here is a short devotional on this topic.???????

????????????You see and know families who openly reject Jesus, yet have great love for each other. Parents will do anything for their children, but reject the love of Jesus. Neighbors who are believers and non-believers work side by side after a disaster. Can people who don’t know God still do good things? How can people who do not trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior still experience His good gifts without understanding the greatest gift of all, Jesus as their Savior? The Bible teaches us that God blesses both believers and nonbelievers in various ways.?Jesus tells us in?Matthew 5:43-45:?"You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike”.?Jesus is telling us that God blesses all through His common grace. More than just blessing the Christian who trusts in Him, God also gives benefits to the unbeliever, the evil, and the unjust as well. Before we protest too much, reflect on what Paul told us in?Romans 3:23-24:?“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins”.?No doubt you have watched unbelievers living by their own rules, enjoying all the wealth and pleasures of the world and piling riches upon riches. And we, the believer, serving our Lord Jesus, may experience numerous difficulties in our life and question the injustice of it all. We might even express, accurately or inaccurately, how these unbelievers are free from many burdens of life’s tribulations. As a Christian, you may be frustrated with unanswered prayers. Why didn’t God prevent this incident? Why wouldn't God stop this hardship and help me? The Bible is silent on many of the “why’s” we ask God. We recognize, but don’t fully comprehend?Romans 8:28:?“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them”.?This is a hard concept for our human minds to understand, especially when we are experiencing tribulation. Yet, we need to stand firm in faith believing and our trust in God. As spoken in?Jeremiah 29:11:?“For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”. What the unbeliever rejects and neglects to understand is life is short; as cited by?James in 4:14:?a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away.?Jesus is very clear;?Matthew 16:25-27:?“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”?This brings us back to the unbelievers who are committed to the belief that their years on earth is the totality of life and all they have of the human experience. Unbelievers do not comprehend the enormity of their decision by their rejection, and even scoffing, at the good news of the gospel. They seal their eternity; an irrevocable eternity of separation from God and unspeakable torment. Believers, on the other hand, know these years on earth, while important, should be used wisely and be enjoyed, but are preparation for a far superior life to come. As Christians, we are residents of earth right now, but our citizenship is in heaven.