All for Good

Long ago, there was a kingdom in a far away land. The king had an able minister who helped him in his administration.
The minister was a god-loving individual. He had this queer habit. Whenever something happened, good or bad, he would say, ‘God did it only for good’.
One evening, on the dinner table, the minister was sharing dinner with the king. As they were engrossed in discussion, the king, while cutting fruits, accidentally chopped off one of his finger. The king screamed in pain and it bled profusely. The royal doctor was immediately summoned.
Seeing this, the minister, without losing his calm, said, ‘God has done this only for good.’. No sooner did the king hear this than he went mad with fury. He yelled, ‘How sadistic! Here I am writhing in excruciating pain, and you feel happy for this? I’m suffering and you say it is for good? Have you gone crazy? Are you making fun of me?’
Hearing this, the minister remained calm and repeated, ‘God has done this only for good.’
The king’s anger knew no heights. He immediately ordered the minister to be imprisoned.
Orders given, the guards rushed in to shackle the minister. While they took the minister to jail, the minister, without the least excitement or jitter, repeated, ‘God is doing this also only for good.’ The king thought this guy must have lost his mind. ‘How can imprisonment be for good? He must have turned lunatic’.

The next day, the king went to the forest for hunting. He ventured deep into the forest not realizing that he had crossed his country’s borders. He had lost his way. Suddenly a host of tribal folk surrounded him. They were performing a worship. Their rites and rituals called for a human sacrifice and they were on the lookout for one. They caught the king and took him for sacrifice. The king pleaded and begged. He used all the tricks in the book to escape from this wild mob, but in vain.
It was a noisy scene. The monstrous tribals were dancing around singing songs and the king was tied to a tree in the center. The chief priest among the tribals came and chanted some Mantras. He got the king ready for the sacrifice. Just then he noticed that the king had a finger missing. He realized that the king had a defect in his body and hence was not qualified for the sacrifice. Deeming him unfit, they let go of the king.

It was a second life for the king! He was happy that he was left alive and rushed back to his kingdom. As soon as he returned to his palace, he ordered the release of his minister and begged pardon for his act.
He said, ‘Had my finger not been chopped off yesterday, I wouldn’t have been alive here by now. Those ruthless tribals would have sacrificed me to their god! Now I understand. God did that for my own good!’
The king continued, ‘But I am still confused! I ordered to put you in jail and you said, that was for good too! I don’t understand that.’
The minister replied, ‘Oh My Majesty! Do I not usually accompany you when you go hunting? Imagine what would have happened had I joined you yesterday? Because you were unfit for the sacrifice, I would have been the scapegoat!’
Then it struck the king’s mind, ‘God does everything for good’.

What ever happens in our life, pleasant or unpleasant, always happens for good. We may think it as good or bad. But who knows the future? If we have strong faith in God, we can understand that whatever happens is only according to His wish, and He will never do anything bad to us or go wrong.