Having lunch with a group of people, I fell to talking with a surgeon, a very interesting man. “Doctor,” I asked, “what was the greatest operation you ever performed?”

“Well,” he said, “I really don’t know. Many operations I have performed required all my skills. But perhaps the one that meant the most to me was the time I operated on a little girl who was given only a ten percent chance of survival. She was such a little thing, and so pale when they brought her into the operating room.

“At that time, I was having a great deal of trouble, myself. I had a son who was a real problem and there were other things as well. I had allowed myself to become an unhappy man. As the nurses were preparing to administer the anesthetic to this little girl, she asked, ‘Doctor, may I say something?’

” ‘Yes, honey,’ I replied. ‘What is it?’

” ‘Well,’ she said, ‘every night when I go to bed I say my prayers, and I’d like to say a prayer now.’

” ‘That’s all right, honey, please say your prayer, and think of me, too, won’t you?’

In a sweet voice she prayed:

Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me, Bless thy little lamb tonight;
Through the darkness be thou near me: Keep me safe till morning light.

“And, dear God, please bless the doctor.’ Then she added brightly, ‘I’m ready now. And I’m not afraid, because Jesus loves me and He is right here with me and is going to bring me through okay.’

“I was blinded by tears,” confessed the surgeon. “I had to turn away and occupy myself with another wash up before I could start the operation. And I said, ‘Dear God, if You never help me save another human being, help me save this little girl.’

I operated on her and the miracle happened. She lived! Leaving the hospital that day, I realized that I was the one who had been operated on, not the girl. She taught me that if I take all my problems and put them in the hands of Jesus, He will see me through.”

- written by Norman Vincent Peale

Busy in his study, a minister was preparing his sermon for the coming Sunday. He reached to the shelf at his side for a book, and then remembered that he had left it downstairs.

His little daughter was playing in the bedroom, and he called her. She came, running, eager and delighted at the thought that Papa needed her. He explained carefully where she could find the book, and she went gladly, returning in a moment with a book which he saw at a glance was the wrong one.

But he hardly looked at the book as he took it and laid it on the table. He looked only at the eager face of his daughter, wreathed in smiles. Gathering her close to his heart, he kissed her and said, “Thank You, darling.”

And when she had gone back happy and contented to her play, he went quietly for the book he needed.

I think I should like to listen to the sermons that man would preach.

A farmer had one old horse that he used for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and when all the farmer’s neighbors heard about it, they sympathized with the old man over his bad luck. “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?” said the farmer.

A week later, the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?” said the farmer.

Then, when the farmer’s son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone agreed that this was very bad luck. Not the farmer, who replied, “Bad Luck? Good luck? Who knows?”

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and forced every able-bodied young man to go fight in a bloody war. When they saw that the farmer’s son had a broken leg, they let him stay. Everyone was very happy at the farmer’s good luck.

“Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?”

Life is a lot like that. Sometimes it seems like things are going well, and at other times, things seem to be going badly. And we let those things dictate our feelings and our outlook on life. When things are going well, we’re happy and we think God is with us. If they are going badly, we get discouraged and think that God must have abandoned us. We end up being tossed around by our circumstances.

But the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4 that he had learned to be content, even happy, in all circumstances. He was happy when things were bad (he was in jail at the time), and he was happy when things were going good as well.

That’s the great thing about being part of God’s family. We really don’t have to worry in our circumstances, because no matter what, we have hope in Christ. “We know that in everything, God works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28).