Story:
One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.
About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took them to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.
As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king they sent him on his way.
As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right" he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."
"No," his friend replied, "this is good!"
"What do you mean, 'this is good'! How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year."
"If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."
Everything happens for a reason. No matter how many bad things happened in one’s life, there is always something good that can be taken from the situation. If one looks at his or her experience with the eyes of faith, one can always find lessons, opportunities and blessings even from confusing moments of one’s life. There is nothing which happens, good or bad, beyond the power of God.
Scripture:
And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord(Luke 1:39-45).
Study:
In our Gospel, Elizabeth was almost six months pregnant when Mary visited her. It would not be unusual that she could feel her child move in her womb. However, she believed the movement was a leap of joy in recognition of Mary's baby. Elizabeth was shown here to be very optimistic. Her positive outlook of life was rooted in her experience of God’s power. Elizabeth was barren and was already old (Luke 1: 7). It was difficult for her to get pregnant as her husband Zacharias was also already old. At that time, a barren woman was often believed to be cursed by God while a woman with children was blessed. In Psalm 127: 3 it says, “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.” However, the blessing of motherhood was announced by an angel to Zacharias when everything seemed to be impossible (Luke 1: 13). This event unfolds the truth that God really intervenes in the affairs of man in some mysterious ways. God has a plan for all of us which most of the times we cannot understand. God will be in control of everything. What we only need is to put our trust in Him and let Him be the source of our optimism in life. Even if someday we shall feel that the situation tears us apart, trust that God has a reason. Let us be reminded by what the Scripture says in Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
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