What will be the greatest challenge to face the Lord’s people in the latter days? Endless persecutions? Violent mobs? The final battle? Consider the words of two prophets.
“Every generation has its tests and its chance to stand and prove itself. Would you like to know of one of our toughest tests? Hear the warning words of President Brigham Young, ‘The worst fear I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and His people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty and all manner of persecution and be true. But my greatest fear is that they cannot stand wealth.’ “Ours then seems to the toughest test of all for the evils are more subtle, more clever. It all seems less menacing and it is harder to detect. While every test of righteousness represents a struggle, this particular test seems like no test at all, no struggle and so could be the most deceiving of all tests. “Do you know what peace and prosperity can do to a people—It can put them to sleep. The Book of Mormon warned us of how the devil, in the last days, would lead us away carefully down to hell. “The Lord has on the earth some potential spiritual giants whom He saved for some six thousand years to help bear off the Kingdom triumphantly, and the devil is trying to put them to sleep. The devil knows that he probably won’t be too successful in getting them to commit many great and malignant sins of commission. So he puts them into a deep sleep,like Gulliver, while he strands them with little sins of omission. And what good is a sleepy, neutralized, lukewarm giant asa leader? “We have too many potential spiritual giants who should be more vigorously lifting their homes, the kingdom, andthe country. We have many who feel they are good men, but they need to be good for something—stronger patriarchs, courageous missionaries, valiant genealogists and temple workers, dedicated patriots, devoted quorum members. In short, we must be shaken and awakened from a spiritual snooze.” (Ezra Taft Benson, “Our Obligation and Challenge,” Regional Representatives Seminar, 30 Sept. 1977, pp. 2-3).
Incidentally, with regards to the curse of money this is where Tevya said, “May the Lord smite me with it! And may I never recover!”