There is an old story, which I hesitate to relate here, since it has been used countless times as a sermon illustration, and will doubtless be familiar to many. Nevertheless, it is both entertaining and thought-provoking, and so worth repeating.   

Once upon a time, there was a Chinese farmer whose horse escaped from the barn and ran away. That evening, his neighbors came over to commiserate with him. They said: “We are sorry to hear your horse has run away. That is most unfortunate.” The farmer said: “Maybe.” The next day, the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it. In the evening, the neighbors returned and said: “Oh, isn’t that fortunate. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again replied: “Maybe.” The following day, his son tried to break one of the horses and while riding it, was thrown off and broke his leg. The neighbors went to him again and said: “Oh dear, that’s too bad” and the farmer again responded: “Maybe.” The next day, military officers came to conscript people into the army and rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Once again, the neighbors came over and said: “Isn’t that great!” Again, the farmer said: “Maybe.”  

In this story, there is content certainly worth contemplating from a Christian point of view. But perhaps first a caveat is in order. The stoic reserve with which the Chinese farmer reacted to the misfortunes that befell him is not necessarily healthy. In the Bible, God’s people lament individual and collective misfortunes. They express their grief to God and cry out to him to deliver them in their distress. The alternative is to repress the negative emotion. But this can have devastating effects on the health of our bodies, as Gabor Maté has shown in his fascinating book, When the Body Says No. The Bible does not sugarcoat the realities of this world. It teaches us to call them by their proper names and react to them accordingly.   

However, the Bible teaches us also that this world and all the events that happen within it are providentially ordered by God and serve ultimately to advance his purposes for his people, purposes that are good. In this connection, the Apostle Paul tells us in his Letter to the Romans that God makes all things work together for the good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose (8:28). Since our minds are finite and our perspective is limited, it is not at all clear to us how this is possible, especially in a world like ours.   

But the fact remains that this world belongs to God. Our response is to trust that God knows what he is doing when he disposes over its affairs. Here is where the Chinese farmer can perhaps instruct us. He is patient. He resists attributing to events a meaning that will emerge only when they find their place in a chain whose beginning he cannot see and whose end has not yet come. Are we able to adopt his posture? Can we too be patient? We can, especially when we combine our patience with a trust in God’s goodness. We can wait patiently when we are confident that God is behind the scenes working together things we cannot see for a good end.  

Pastor Chris