We just see a sliver!

I heard this story today and I love it!

The Woodcutter’s Wisdom by Max Lucado - http://www.maxlucado.com/
* * *
(Paraphrased) How a white stallion had rode into the paddocks of an old man and all the villagers had congratulated him on such good fortune. And the old man had only offered this: “Is it a curse or a blessing? All we can see is a sliver. Who can see what will come next?”

When the white horse ran off, the townsfolk were convinced the white stallion had been a curse. The old man lived surrendered and satisfied in the will of God alone: “I cannot see as He sees.”

And when the horse returned with a dozen more horses, the townsfolk declared it a blessing, yet the old man said only, “It is as He wills and I give thanks for His will.”

Then the man’s only son broke his leg when thrown from the white stallion. The town folk all bemoaned the bad fortune of that white stallion. And the old man had only offered, “We’ll see. We’ll see. It is as He wills and I give thanks for His will.”

When a draft for a war took all the young men off to battle but the son with the broken leg, the villagers all proclaimed the good fortune of that white horse. And the old man said but this, “We see only a sliver of the sum. We cannot see how the bad might be good. God is sovereign and He is good and He sees and work all things together for good.”

The old man was right. We only have a fragment. Life’s mishaps and horrors are only a page out of a grand book. We must be slow about drawing conclusions. We must reserve judgement on life’s storms until we know the whole story.

I don’t know where the woodcutter learned his patience. Perhaps from another woodcutter in Galilee. For it was the Carpenter who said it best:
“Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself.” (Matthew 6:34)

He should know. He is the author of our story. And he has already written the final chapter.

I was reminded of what we call "Godincidences." -Events that seem fairly random and maybe even tragic at the time, but later we realize they are for the best. Our kids' story was a series of Godincidences (from adopting kids older than our bio children, the first adoption agency turning us down, and the children we'd been planning to adopt removed from the photo listings just days before...) that led to us adopting 2 special needs kids that we seem uniquely qualified to handle.