As you read this story, compare it with how you are viewing your trials. Are you like the man full of faith in His God knowing that this trial is for your ultimate good? Or are you quick to blame God for it all? If you are the latter, I pray this will speak to your heart.

There were two men having a trip together. They brought a donkey to carry their things, a torch to brighten the road at night and a chicken, which was a donkey’s friend. The chicken sat on the donkey’s head during the trip.

One of the two men was a born-again Christian, while the other one was the unbeliever. Along the way, they were having a conversation about God.

“God is so good,” said the first one.

“Well, we’ll see if you still think the same during this trip,” said the second.

When the nightfall came, they reached a small village and they were looking for a place to sleep. They had been looking everywhere yet no one wanted to take them in. So they continued on their trip out of the village and decided to sleep there.

“I thought you said that God is good,” said the second one cynically.

“God has decided that this is the best place for us to sleep,” explained the first one.

They put up their tent under a big tree beside the road to the village and tied the donkey five metres away from their tent. As they lit the torch, they heard some noise. A lion attacked the donkey, dragged it away and ate it. They promptly climbed the tree to survive.

“You still think that God is good?” asked the second man angrily.

“Hadn’t the lion killed the donkey, we would have been eaten. God is good,” said the first.

A moment later, they heard their chicken cackling. From the tree, they could see that a big cat attacked the chicken and dragged it away.

Before the second man said anything, the first man said,

“The sound of the chicken saved us once again. God is good.”

A few minutes later, a big wind blew out their torch – the only thing that was keeping them warm. Once again, the second man mocked his friend.

“Apparently, God’s kindness has been working on us all night,” he said.

The first man said nothing.

The next morning, the two men went back to the village for food only to discover that robbers had attacked and robbed the entire village!

Knowing that, the first man said,

“Now it’s clear. God is really good. Had we spent the night at the village, we would have been robbed. Had the wind not blown out our torch, the robbers, who passed the street near us, would have seen us and robbed us too. It is so clear that God is good.”

~Author Unknown~

Complainingly I told myself, “this cross is too heavy to wear.”
And I wondered discontentedly why God gave it to me to bear.

And I looked with envy at others whose crosses seemed lighter than mine
And wished that I could change my cross for one of a lighter design.

And then, in a dream, I beheld the cross I impulsively wanted to wear,
It was fashioned of pearls and diamonds and gems that were precious and rare.

And when I hung it around my neck the weight of the jewels and the gold
Was much too heavy and cumbersome for my small, slender neck to hold

So I tossed it aside and before my eyes was a cross of rose-red flowers
And I said with delight as I put it on, “this cross I can wear for hours”

For it was so dainty and fragile, so lovely and light and thin,
But I had forgotten about the thorns that started to pierce my skin

And then in my dream I saw “my cross,” rugged and old and plain,
That clumsy old cross I had looked upon with discontented disdain.

And at last I knew that God had made this “special cross for me,”
For God in His great wisdom knew what I before could not see,

That often the loveliest crosses are the heaviest crosses to bear,
For only God is wise enough to choose the cross we can wear.

So never complain about YOUR CROSS, for your cross has been blessed,
God made it JUST FOR YOU to wear and remember, GOD KNOWS BEST

~Author Unknown~