THIS IS GOOD!

(Learning to maintain a positive attitude during adversity. A Good Friday meditation.)

I heard a story told recently about a king in Africa who had a close friend that grew up with him. The friend was a Christian and had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good."

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, 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. Cannibals captured him and took the hunting party to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, and bound the king to the stake. As they started to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So, untying the king, they sent him on his way.

As the king 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 are 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," replied his friend; "this is good."

"What do you mean? How could this 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."

Romans 8:28 is not always that easy to understand. Sometimes we don't see the silver lining behind the dark clouds. However, through faith we can see that God has a greater purpose to every event of life.

Then, what's good about Good Friday?

What looked like a triumph for Satan and for evil turned out to be a victory for Christ and for every believer. We celebrate this day because God loved us enough to give His own Son so that we could be restored into a right relationship with Him. This is why Good Friday truly is Good. God has a way of turning the biggest tragedies in the world into the greatest triumphs for HIS GLORY and OUR GOOD! Our greatest weaknesses, if exposed to the light of God, can become our greatest strengths. Our greatest problems, if we claim God's promises, can become our greatest possibilities.

Yes, all things work together for GOOD to those who love God and are called according to His purposes. My prayer for you is that this little story about an African king will help you to look upon the events of life from God's point of view. Everything in life has a purpose and behind every experience, God has a plan. In your walk with God, learn to accept what happens. Then go a step further and with God's help say, "This is good."

God has always been good to me!

May you see that He is always good to you!

Have a blessed day!

Pastor Ken

This week at Faith Fellowship:

(no men's breakfast on 4/19/2025)

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• Resurrection Sunday -8:30 AM Breakfast together 

•  10 AM: Worship -Message:The Resurrection in Old & New Testaments

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Wednesday 7 PM -Prayer Meeting / Friday 7 PM -Prayer for the Nation

Saturday 7 AM -Men's Bible and Breakfast

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• April 27 -Missionary Chris Boda from India for 9 AM Sunday School and 10 AM Worship

  Faith Fellowship -Our Forever Family, Luck, WI

• Ken Mettler, Pastor  715-475-7666

All things work together for good because God is good!

Happy Good Friday!

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