Sirach 11:2-20

Good things and bad, life and death,
poverty and wealth, come from the Lord.
The Lord’s gift remains with the devout,
and his favour brings lasting success.(Sirach 11:14,17)

In the grace of God I understand we may all find eventual "success." But God's definition of success is considerably different than what most of us typically consider success.

It is not my experience -- nor my understanding of the gospels -- that good and bad, poverty and wealth, or even life and death -- come from God directly.

God has created the potential for all these things and in the structure of God's creation there are pathways more or less suited for that structure. We are free to choose and our consequences are much more the outcome of human choice -- and often the choice of others -- than God's specific intervention.

In many translations of Sirach the two verses listed above are sequential, nothing comes between. But in a few of the ancient manuscripts is found:

Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of the law come from the Lord;
affection and the ways of good works come from him.
Error and darkness were created with sinners;
evil grows old with those who take pride in malice.

These two insertions are much closer to what my experience and reading of the gospels tell me of God and my relationship with God and neighbor.