GOOD THING OR BAD THING?

SERMON STORIES: LAUGH & LEARN
#26: GOOD THING OR BAD THING?

A man owns a beautiful horse which he loves very much. One day, it ran away. His friends visited him to comfort him. “We are sorry such a bad thing has happened to you,” they said. 

The man replied, “My horse ran away. How do you know if it’s a bad thing?” A few days later, the horse returned, bringing with it a wild horse. The man’s friends visited him to rejoice with him. “We are so glad your horse came back, and brought another with it.” 

The man replied, “My horse came back with another horse. How do you know if it’s a good thing?” One day, when the man’s son was riding the wild horse, he fell and broke his arm. 

The man’s friends visited him to sympathise with him. “We are sorry your son broke his arm. Surely this is a bad thing.” 

The man replied, “My son broke his arm. How do you know it’s a bad thing?” Soon after, war broke out and all the men in the village were called to fight in it. The man’s son was not called because of his injury. Is it not a good thing? 

Life is such a mystery that we can never know for certain if something is good or bad. That is because we can never know the future, whether that something will turn out good or bad. Therefore, it is best we hold our judgment and let life’s mystery unfold before us. 

“In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.”Ecclesiastes 7:14 ESV