Day 4

There is an old story about a Chinese man who lived on the border of China and Mongolia. In those days, there was constant conflict along the border. The Chinese man had a beautiful horse, but one day the horse leaped over the fence and ran across the border, and was captured by the Mongolians. His friends tried to comfort him. “That’s bad,” they said. “What makes you think it’s bad?” asked the Chinese man. “Maybe it’s good.”

A few days later, the horse came back into his farm, bringing with it a beautiful snow-white stallion. His friends crowded around. “That’s good,” they said. The old man replied, “What makes you think it’s good? Maybe it’s bad.”

Later that week, his son was riding that snow-white stallion when he was thrown off and he broke his leg. The neighbors again gathered around. “That’s bad,” they cried. “What makes you think it’s bad?” asked the Chinese man. “Maybe it’s good.”

The next week, war broke out with Mongolia, and a Chinese army general came through town drafting all the young men for the war, except for the young man who had a broken leg. The Chinese man said to his friends, “You see, the things you thought were bad turned out good; and the things you thought were good turned out bad.”

Life can be circumstantial, but God cannot be understood from the circumstances. Too often, that is precisely what we do. We tend to define God according to how the circumstances turn out. You and I cannot control what happens in life any more than we can control the wind blowing, and where. But we most certainly can control how we respond in those circumstances – and that response should be faith in who God is, not what we want Him to be when things are not going the way we had hoped. He is the way, and God is good because His character is such, regardless of life’s circumstances.

Listen to the words of Tozer – “Divine goodness is self-caused, infinite, perfect, and eternal. Since God is immutable (meaning unchangeable), He never varies in the intensity of His loving-kindness. He has never been kinder than He now is, nor will He ever be less kind. He is no respecter of persons but makes His sun to shine on the evil as well as on the good, and sends His rain on the just and on the unjust. The cause of His goodness is in Himself, the recipients of His goodness are all His beneficiaries without merit and without recompense.”

Now, imagine God thinking of us this way, which He does. Like a loving father toward His beloved child, which we are. And it is not just some of the time, but all of the time. We are the object of His affection, and there is no change to that, in that, forever.

You see, if we truly understood this, it would change so much of our lives in how we live, love, and learn. The problem is that we drift from God because we have not gotten a right view of God. We need a fresh revelation of Him. We need to see that He is good, and that in the midst of whatever we face, we never face anything alone.

**QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION**

1. We all have been in a situation where the outcome was not what we had wanted. How did you respond?

2. How did you view God?

3. Do you need to change your view of God? How can you do that today?

*God, as Your Word says, and as I read here today, we never face anything alone. You are always with us. You laugh with us, and You cry with us. Help me to trust in Your ways in all circumstances, knowing the peace of Your presence. Amen.*