Satisfied Saint

“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)

There is a Chinese story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?"

Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this was very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him stay. Everyone was very happy at the farmer’s good luck. “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?”

In Philippians 4 Paul speaks of being content in whatever situation comes your way. At the time Paul was in prison. Paul was often in bad situations, hard work, frequently in prison, been severely flogged, been exposed to death again and again, five times he received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one…thanks for that “minus one”, three times he was beaten with rods, once he was stoned, three times he was shipwrecked & spent a night and a day in the open sea. He was constantly on the move, he has been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from his own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. He labored and toiled and often went without sleep, he has known hunger and thirst and has often gone without food, (I’m writing this while eating a yeast roll & I’m not even hungry), he has been cold and naked, (now I do have clothes on), besides all else, he faced daily the pressure of his deep concern for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). In short…well not really in short…Paul knew a bad situation when he saw one. But in all that he went through, he was content & truly lived Romans 8:28, “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”. In our days to come, we need to remember those words, no matter what comes our way.

Vern