Good? Or Bad?

The Story of the Taoist Farmer

A farmer had only one horse, and one day the horse ran away. The farmer’s neighbors came to console him and said, “This is such a terrible tragedy.” The farmer said, “Is it?”

A month later, the horse returned and brought with it two beautiful wild horses. The neighbors were so happy for the farmer and exclaimed, “Your horse has returned and brought with him two more strong horses! What great fortune!” The farmer said, “Is it?”

Later, the farmer's son was thrown from one of the wild horses and broke his leg. All the neighbors were very distressed. “This is such bad luck” they said.  The farmer said, “Is it?”

A war came, and every able-bodied man was drafted and had to go to battle. Only the farmer's son, because he had a broken leg, could not go. The neighbors congratulated the farmer saying, “Your son has been spared! This is wonderful!”  The farmer said, “Is it?”

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I have heard and read this story told in a few different ways. While I am not attempting to promote Taoism, the Christian idea it illustrates is important: We do not always understand why events occur in our lives and we are not always able to accurately assess if what is happening is truly good or bad. The Word tells us that God’s ways are higher than ours—His thoughts are as well. (Isaiah 55:8&9) Our minds do not work like His and because we are not omniscient (all knowing) we do not have the ability to assess the events in our lives from an eternal perspective. Our understanding is finite. However, in all that we don’t know, there is something that we can know! We can know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) We can know that He understands why things are happening and how they fit into His grand plan for your life.

See, the events that make us feel good are typically labelled as good and the ones that make us feel bad are typically labelled as bad. For example: the unexpected lay-off. Definitely bad, right? As children of God, I think we would do well to approach this type of circumstance with an “Is it?” type of attitude. This may not be bad perhaps if you’ve been timid about starting your own business and the lay-off was the “inspiration” that you needed to get started on a wildly successful venture.

We may not understand why or what is truly happening in our lives. But we know that, in the midst, the Lord will not leave or forsake us. He’s got a plan. We can rest assured in Him when our circumstances are…questionable.