There’s an old Chinese parable about a farmer whose horse runs away. Upon hearing the news, a neighbor comes over and says, “Your horse ran away, what bad luck!” The farmer says, “Maybe yes, maybe no. We shall see.”
The next day, the horse returns with two more horses, so the neighbor comes over and says, “You now have three horses, what good luck!” The farmer replies, “Maybe yes, maybe no. We shall see.”
While the farmer’s son is out taming the horses, he falls and breaks his leg. The neighbor comes over to say what miserable luck this is, but the farmer says, as always, “We shall see.”
A few days later a war breaks out, and soldiers come through the town looking for young men. Because the farmer’s son is injured, he can stay home. Good luck? And so the parable continues with more episodes for the neighbor to judge good or bad, but always with the farmer saying, “We shall see.”
When we’re walking with God, praying about our choices and asking Him to search our heart and show us the way, we can find peace in knowing there’s a plan for our life. It may go beyond what we can see or comprehend at present, but surrendering to God (“let go and let God”) opens doors to life, not mere existence.
Going By Faith Means Trusting in God’s Wisdom
That parable makes me think about what it means to go by faith and trust in God. We don’t always know the why or how.
We don’t know how God will use our daily circumstances, our actions and our chance encounters to grow our faith, to grow faith in others and to grow His kingdom in general.
What may seem like unfortunate events today may carry a greater purpose tomorrow. What may seem like hard choices now may build an example of integrity and respect later. Gains in the wrong way could actually be losses; losses in the right way could actually be gains. But that’s when we trust God’s plan for our life.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Nice Jen, the parable reminded me of how important it is to put hope in God and not the things of the world (which are dynamic & disappear at the snap of a finger). Even investing happiness in things like “gee I’m happy that I’m healthy,” or “I’m happy I have a job and am not like them..,” can be scary, but if we are happy in God and we trust Him then anything can happen and we can still be joyful (have peace, hope) even if we don’t immediately feel the emotion of “feeling” good, because hope in God delivers – always. Hope in anything that is not of God is no hope at all, only an illusion.
I like it. There was a parable about a woman who was healed because her faith was so strong. If only we could all experience faith like that.
It’s so true that basing our hope on what’s not of God is only an illusion. It feels good at the moment, but the moment always changes. God never changes.
Miracles happen when we believe — like the woman with the bleeding disorder that was healed, blind men who could see, lepers that could walk. Like Jesus said:
For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will
say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and
nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20-21)
A lot of people wonder why we don’t see miracles like the ones Jesus’ performed in the NT. I, without a doubt, believe we don’t see them because we don’t trust in God but trust in ourselves, our money, our own abilities. There is no room for him to do his work when we are busy believing we can do it ourselves. In Acts, before Jesus ascended, he promised that WE would be able to do works greater than his, if only we trust in him.
Modern miracles do happen. Here is a story for an adoptive friend of mine who witnessed this modern day miracle (a few weeks ago) with her own eyes: My Crazy Adoption.
The Holy Spirit is in us to do the work of God. So, where are we (in the United States and developed nations) going wrong? Maybe we need a lot more faith and lot less us.
So true. When we’re inundated with the world — ads, commercials, magazines, etc. — the message is often me-centered. When we’re living like that, it seems risky to go the way that is Christ-centered. Yet the truth is, it’s the only way.