"This
Is Good"
The story is told of a king 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 on a hunting expedition.
The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. In preparing
one of the guns, the friend had apparently done something wrong, 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 a dangerous area. Cannibals
captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands,
stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to
it.
As
they approached to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was
missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was
less than whole. So after 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."
Situations
may not always seem pleasant while we are in them, but the promise of
God is clear. If we love him and live our lives according to his
precepts, even that which seems to be bleak and hopeless will be turned
by God for His glory and our benefit. Hold on...God is
faithful!
# # #
Return HOME from This is
Good
