And we know that God causes all things to work together
for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His
purpose. Romans 8:28
Today
you begin a new week of activity. Over
the week you may find yourself evaluating the things that happen as to their
benefit or loss in your life. It’s just
what we do with the circumstances we find ourselves in. But just how accurate is our evaluation?
The story is told of a king in
Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every
situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking,
"This is good!"
One day the king and his friend
were out on a hunting expedition. The
friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something
wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend,
the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.
Examining the situation, the
friend remarked as usual, "This is good!". To which the king replied, "No, this is
not good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail. About a year later the king was hunting in an
area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their
village. They tied his hands, stacked
some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. But as they came near to set fire to the
wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone
who was less than whole. So untying the
king, they sent him on his way.
As he returned home he was
reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his
treatment of his friend. He went
immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right," he said, "it
was good that my thumb was blown off."
And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so, I am very sorry for sending you
to jail for so long. It was bad for me
to do this."
"No," his friend
replied, "This is good!".
"What do you mean, "This
is good"? How could it be good that
I sent my friend to jail for a year?"
"If I had not been in jail, I
would have been with you."
Yes, I know that was kind of corny. But is there not a lesson in this strange
story? As a matter of fact, cannot every
one of us tell a story of some circumstance which we felt was the worst thing
ever only to say later it may have been one of the best things that ever
happened? It is surely more common than
we realize that God takes the bad and turns it to good.
Many people have lost their jobs only to find a new and
successful career in a field they would never have sought had they not been
forced to search for new opportunities.
There are those who had a slight accident and in the process of doing
some tests just to be sure all was okay the doctors discovered the early stages
of a dangerous and even deadly disease.
That early diagnosis saved their lives.
It’s true! God will
use all things to benefit us; not just what we think is “good.” So how do we evaluate what happens to us as
good or bad? Do we really need to when God
is ion control?
Scripture to Claim:
In everything give thanks; for this is
God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1
Thessalonians 5:18
