We often think we know what is best for ourselves, but do we?  We pray for what we WANT and not what we NEED and then wonder why God doesn’t answer our prayers.  He does answer our prayers, but just in a manner which is best for us.

Here is a Buddhist story that exemplifies this very issue.

A farmer wakes up one morning to find that his horse has run off.  His neighbor comes by  and says, “Too bad.  Such awful luck.”

The farmer says, “Maybe.”

The next day, the horse returns with a few more horses. The neighbor congratulates the farmer on his reversal of fortune. 

“Maybe”, the farmer says.

When his son tries to ride one of the new horses, he is thrown off and breaks his leg.  The neighbor offers condolences.

The farmer answers, “Maybe.”

And the next day, when the army officials come to draft the son and don’t take him because of his broken leg, everyone is happy.

“Maybe,” the farmer says.

I have heard stories like this before. They are beautiful in their simplicity and surrender to the universe. I wonder if I could be attached to something so detached. I don’t know. Maybe…

This story  tells of a simple man who submitted to the belief everything happens for a reason and it not always for the worst. He didn’t immediately assume the world was treating him unfairly, but waited patiently for what was going to happen next. I wish I could be more like that and trust that everything happens for a reason. I’m working on it though and the longer I live, the more I recognize instances I call a “God thing”. We experience God’s unconditional love for us everyday in all the “God Things” we experience.

In Jeremiah 29:11 we read these words. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.

God’s greatest plan was the birth and death of His Son, Jesus Christ who gave His life so we all have a chance for forgiveness and salvation. We are so blessed.  Thanks be to God!

Patty