Tag Archives: Chinese good news parable

Bad news or good news?

A Chinese farmer gets a horse, which soon runs away. A neighbor says, “That’s bad news.” The farmer replies, “Good news, bad news, who can say?”

The horse comes back and brings another horse with him. Good news, you might say. The farmer gives the second horse to his son, who rides it, then is thrown and badly breaks his leg.

“So sorry for your bad news,” says the concerned neighbor. “Good news, bad news, who can say?” the farmer replies.

In a week or so, the emperor’s men come and take every able-bodied young man to fight in a war. The farmer’s son is spared.
Good news, of course.

This Chinese parable illustrates a basic truth we’ve discussed before: light overcomes darkness. Blessings sometimes travel in disguise, even embedded in trials. The path to peace and contentment sometimes winds through a valley of discontent. The apostle Paul revealed that the “bad news” of his imprisonment and suffering actually served to advance the “good news” of the gospel. (Philippians 1:12)

Disciplining your mind to habituate to a positive “good news” attitude will help you see problems as opportunities. This is an ongoing challenge that requires daily focus to maintain this perspective consistently. For sure, this life view will rescue you from the paralysis of inward focus to find the freedom of focusing on what God intends to reveal.

There was a cartoon of a turtle on its back; with clear view of the sky, he concluded, “I’m flying!” Hilarious as the image was, his delusion about flying offered absolutely no help to overcome the fact that he was in fact STUCK on his back. Positive thinking helps us to FEEL better about our ‘bad news’ and to temporarily escape the pain of our circumstance, but eventually we have to come back to the reality of how to actually deal with the problem.

The really ‘good news’ is that God knows us – and our ‘bad news’ situation – perfectly. Furthermore, he cares deeply about us. He offers his perfect perspective and counsel by providing his Spirit, grace, strength, and power to rise above our circumstance…to become victorious over them. Now THAT’s good news indeed!

Here’s to seeing the “good news” God intends for you to see and share with others today!

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach my good news to all creation.'” (And use words if you have to!) Mark 16:15