An old folktale tells about a king and his friend who grew up together and remained close.  The friend had a favorite saying for every situation.  “This is good.”

The two went hunting one day and the friend loaded the king’s gun for him.  When the king fired it, the firearm exploded and blew off his thumb.  The friend responded with his usual, “This is good.”  The king replied that it was not good and had his friend put in prison.

About a year later, the king went hunting and was captured by cannibals.  He was tied at the stake and commented to himself, “This is not good.”   However, before lighting the fire, one of the cannibals noticed the king’s missing thumb.  Tribal tradition would not allow them to eat anyone who wasn’t whole.  They untied him and let him go free.

He went immediately to his best friend in prison when he realized his missing thumb had saved his life.  He apologized and acknowledged to him that it really was good that he lost his thumb and was not good that he had put him in prison.  Interestingly, the friend replied that it actually was good that he was in jail.  Confused, the king asked how it could be good that he sent his best friend to jail for a year?

The friend explained that if he had not been in jail, he would have been with the king.  And his thumb was not missing!

Life is filled with both good and bad experiences.  We think we know the difference, but that is often impossible.  The truth is that what we consider to be good at the time may play out to be not so positive in the whole scheme of life.  Similarly, bad is often turned into good.

I have personally learned much and experienced incredible growth from “bad” times in my life.  The Bible tells us that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

Be thankful for life and what it brings.  Choose to enjoy the good times and learn from the not so good times.  That is when you can live . . . your life to the fullest.