JULY 22, Romans 8:28

Dear children, do you use words like ‘luckily’, ‘bad luck’? If you do, you have to stop now. This ‘luck’ means an accidental event that turns out good or no good to you. But to Christians, there are no accidents. God causes all things to happen in our lives with a good purpose.

I share a story of a boy from Vietnam. Cong Tuan was from quite a rich family with land and pig farms. He was sent to study in an International School in Ho Chi Minh City and after two years, he was preparing to go to America to further his studies and his goal was to earn lots of money. But before he could go, disaster struck. Cong Tuan fell sick and doctor said he had blood cancer! He was only 17! The people in his home town said it was a ‘generational curse’ and he was the ‘unlucky one’.

Today, he praises God. Why? Because through his illness, his mother and sister brought him to Singapore to get treatment. For the first time, he heard of God the Creator and our Lord Jesus Christ who loved him so much that He came to earth to die for his sins. He believed. His sister also believed and both were baptized in our church in 2012. Slowly, his mother, who was initially feeling very hopeless, also came to know God. His father fell ill sometime ago and he finally also accepted Jesus as His Saviour. What miracle upon miracle!

So, he can say, “I know my family’s loss of wealth and my cancer work together for good, because through it, God saves me and my family”.

Thought: When bad things happen to me, is it because of my sin or because God is using these to increase my faith?

Prayer: Father in heaven, I will not fear no matter what happens to me, because You will make all things work out for my good. I praise You in Jesus’ name, Amen.

[Written with permission from Nguyen Cong Tuan, on 21 Jan 2013. He was called home to the Lord on 24 February 2013]