Only God Knows For Sure

An old man who lived in a little village, though he was poor, was envied by almost everyone because of a beautiful white horse he owned. Though numerous folks offered great sums of money to purchase the majestic steed, the man refused because he viewed the animal as his
friend.

One morning the man went to the stable and found his horse was gone. The people of the village told him, "Old man, you are a fool. You should have sold that horse when you had the chance. Now he has been stolen and you have nothing. You’ve been cursed with misfortune."

The old man responded, "Don’t speak too quickly. All we know is that the horse is not in the stable. How can you know if I have been cursed or not? This may turn out to be a curse or it may be a blessing." The old man’s neighbors laughed at his words.

Two weeks later the horse returned. He had not been stolen, but simply had run off into the forest. Not only did he return, but he brought back a dozen wild horses that the old man was able to gather in his stable. The people of the village said, "Old man, we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was really a blessing. Please forgive us."

The man responded, "We can only say that my horse has returned and brought twelve other horses back with him. How do we know this is a blessing? When we can only read one page of the book, we don’t know how the book will end. This may be a blessing, but it might also be a curse. We must learn to be content with the fact that we do not know." His neighbors nodded in agreement, but were thinking, "this man really is a fool."

The old man had a son, his only son, who was very dear to him. The young man began the job of breaking the wild horses. A few days later one of the horses threw him to the ground and trampled him. Both his legs were broken. The neighbors once again acknowledged that the old
man had been right. The new horses were really a curse, not a blessing. They warned that with his son now crippled, the man had no one to help or care for him.

Once again the old man scolded his neighbors for making hasty judgments. "We know only that my son has two broken legs," he said, "Whether or not it is a curse or blessing is something we cannot yet determine."

A few weeks later war broke out with a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded because of his injury. They told the old man, "You were right. Your son’s injury has turned out to be a blessing. He will be safe here in the village while our sons are being killed in battle."

The old man responded, "I say only this: Your sons have gone to war, while mine has not. No one knows if this is a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows."

Friends, no matter what is happening in our lives, even the COVID-19 pandemic, we should keep trusting God. Only He knows for sure how things will work out. And remember: If we are a believer in Jesus, God has promised that in the end, everything will work out for His glory and our good.

Rev Dan Erickson, Sr. Pastor, Chisholm Baptist Church