Both prosperity and the lack thereof attack us by leading us to worship a false god, that of the perceived riches in money...
13. He divided the sea and led them through, and He made the waters stand as in a vessel.
"Now he begins to list the miracles which were done among our fathers and which they and we have forgotten. The sea is the world allegorically, and the mingling of prosperity and adversity. And through the midst of these He has led the holy apostles and the martyrs, our fathers, into the heavenly realms. And He made them stand, so that from either side neither prosperity on the right nor adversity on the left would be able to overwhelm them. Faith is the vessel which holds these waters and bids them stand and not do harm and by its spirit makes its way through their midst."
And in the Large Catechism...
"Many a person imagines that he has God and everything he needs, provided he has money and property. He relies upon these, boasts about them, and feels so immovably secure that he cares bout no one. But look, he too has a god, named mammon, that is the money and property to which he has given his whole heart. Mammon is the world's favorite idol One who has money and property has a sense of security and feels as happy and fearless as if he were sitting in the middle of paradise. On the other hand, one who has nothing is as insecure and anxiety-ridden as if he had never heard of God Very few can be found who keep a cheerful spirit and neither fret nor complain when they are without mammon."(LC - First Part, The Ten Commandments, paragraph 4)
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