This Is Good!!!

"This is good!"

The story is told of a king in Africa who
had a close friend with whom he grew up.
The friend 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 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."

Situations may not always seem pleasant
while we are in them, but the promise of God is clear.