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A certain Mr. Sai, who lived on the northern frontier of China, lost a horse. His neighbors all came to console him, but he was not worried at all. “This may turn out to be a good thing,” he said. A day later, the horse came back with many wild horses following into his corral. His neighbors congratulated him, but he was not overjoyed at all. “This may turn out to be a bad thing,” he said.One day, Mr. Sai’s son was out trying to break the wild horses when he fell and broke his legs instead. And his neighbors came to comfort him, but he responded with, “This may still turn out to be a good thing after all.” A few days later, a Chinese warlord came through the area, looking to draft young men into the army for a particularly brutal conflict, and he passed by Mr. Sai’s son because of his broken legs. “This is a good thing,” his neighbors said. I wonder what Mr. Sai’s response was!
This parable, called Sai Weng Shi Ma (lit., “Mr. Sai lost a horse”), conveys a truism: We are not always able to accurately assess what is ultimately good and what is ultimately bad in any given situation. Not that Mr. Sai’s stoicism should become our model, but this parable serves to remind us of Rom. 8:26 — “All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
These last few years have seen their share of contentious issues within our beloved PC(USA). Some have lost heart in PC(USA) because they couldn’t see a good future beyond the current difficulties. But Presbyterians For Renewal has not responded to these distractions in such a way — we have not only advocated staying in the denomination, but we have pledged to continue faithful gospel ministry alongside our various congregations across the land by instilling the hope that only Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of the church, can offer and fulfill (Eph. 2:20).
Before we lose heart and throw in the towel, maybe we need to stop and ask ourselves this question, “What is the good that will come out of this?” No one can ever claim to give us the final answer to the problem of bad things. But, one thing we do know — God is always in the business of making it good, and we can see through our tears and know that God wants to do a great work in every situation.
Bill Teng is the President of the PFR Board of Directors.