Prayer Challenge: Perspective/ Non-Judgement

Chinese Proverb: Good Luck Bad Luck?

There is a story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck,the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?" 

Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was,"Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him off. Now was that good luck or bad luck? Who knows?

Spend some time in prayer this week asking God to show you where in the past you’ve quickly jumped to judgement to name something as good or bad only to be shown later, after waiting and perspective, that it was in fact the opposite. 
 
What’s the thing right now in your life that you are making judgements about without knowing the eventual outcome?  Can you ask God to take this burden from you knowing that you don’t know what is in store for the future? 

It's not only important to have perspective about the painful things in our lives, but also sometimes even the joyful things.  By not attaching to the fleeting feelings of the moment, we are free to follow the path that God is leading us into the future.
 

Prayer:  Free me, Lord, to follow you and not be pulled here are there by my reactions in the moment. ​