Blessing or Curse?

by Stephanie Guzman

I heard this story in Sunday school a long time ago, and it has always stuck with me. It is a great illustration of perspective and it has come back to me many times over the years as I deal with my outlook on life. 

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Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, because he owned a beautiful white horse. People offered fabulous prices for the horse, but the old man always refused. “This horse is a friend, not a possession,” he would respond.

One morning the horse was not in the stable. All the villagers said, “You old fool. We told you someone would steal that beautiful horse. You could at least have gotten the money. Now the horse is gone, and you’ve been cursed with misfortune.”

The old man responded, “Perhaps. All I know is that my horse is gone; the rest I do not know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can’t say.” 

After fifteen days the horse returned. He hadn’t been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses back with him. Once again, the village people gathered around the old man and said, “You were right – what we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us.” The old man responded, “Perhaps. Once again, you’ve gone too far. How do you know if this is a blessing or a curse? Unless you can see the whole story, how can you judge?” But the people could only see the obvious. The old man now had twelve additional horses that could be broken and sold for a great deal of money.

The old man had a son, an only son. He began to work with the wild horses. Unfortunately, after just a few days, he fell from a horse and broke both his legs. Once again, the villagers gathered around the old man and said, “You were right. The wild horses were not a blessing; they were a curse. Your only son has broken his legs and now in your old age you have no one to help you. You are poorer than ever.” But the old man said, “Perhaps. Don’t go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. We have only a fragment of the whole story.”

It so happened that a few weeks later the country went to war with a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded, because he had two broken legs. Once again, the people gathered around, crying because there was little chance their sons would return. “You were right, old man.  Your son’s accident was a blessing.  Our sons are gone forever.”

The old man spoke again. “You people are always quick to jump to conclusions. Only God knows the final story.” 

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As we came to the end of last year, I heard a lot of people saying they were glad it was over, that it had been a bad year, and hoping next year was going to be better. I tried to think of what would make it bad for so many people. For myself, I’d say it had been a pretty good year. Then I started to think what makes a whole year qualify as good or bad? Is it one amazing or horrible event? Does it take a series of good, or bad, things to overshadow the whole year to make us feel that way. Is it even possible for a year to be good or bad? 

In 2013, I lost my father. Everyday my heart aches to hear his voice, to laugh with him and to hug him. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through, and I will live with the pain of it until I die. It was a “bad” year.

 In 2013, I was cured of Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I have never had so many effortless opportunities to tell people how good God is than while I was going through chemotherapy. Every day I remember that God was gracious and allows me to see my children grow up, to have another year with my husband and serve Him. It was a “good” year.

So, which one was it? I want to challenge how we decide the worth of a year, and I believe it has more to do with our focus than the events. When we look at our circumstances and only see the bad, it is because we are looking out for ourselves. What is our focus supposed to be?

The Bible gives us a clear picture of our role as a believer. Romans 12:1 says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” We are to offer ourselves up to His work. This means that His focus becomes our focus. That we are living to be used by God to glorify Himself and bring others to salvation. We are guaranteed to have to deal with hard things. Things that seems too big for us to handle. But He also gives us hope because Romans 8:28 tells us that God is working all things together for good to those who love Him and are called for His purpose. We know that God has a plan and is not going to leave us to fend for ourselves. And the amazing part is that while He is doing all this for His glory, He is making us more like Him, “to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:24

How then can we judge if a year was really a good one, or a bad one? I believe a year is only good if in our circumstance we pointed people to Christ in how we handled it, what we learned from it or how it changed us to be more like Him. And it is only bad if our focus was on ourselves and we forgot our true calling and who we live for. 

THINK ABOUT IT:

What was one hard, thing that happened to you this last year? What did God teach you about yourself?

How can you use that to become more like Him? 

Think of one thing you are dealing with now that you could change your focus and use it glorify God. What is the first thing you will need to do?