One day a king was in the jungle along with his hunting party which included his trusted minister. While hunting the king and his minister became separated from others. As they were trying to navigate their way out of the jungle, the king became extremely thirsty. The minister searched and found a pond to drink from. Although the king was grateful for the water, he became annoyed when one of his fingers started bleeding due to being pricked by thorns. He was looking for sympathy from the minister, but the minister simply smiled and said, “God did well to do this.” These words surprised the king and made him angry. However, he was relieved when he and his minister managed to join the rest of the hunting party. Soon they returned to the kingdom.
Once he was back in the palace, the king received medical care. His finger had become infected and had to be amputated. Once again the minister said, “God did well to do this.” Now the king was beside himself with rage, and banished his minister to the dungeon.
A few days later the king went to the jungle once again; this time without his minister. He got lost in the jungle and found himself alone. It was not long before he was captured by some primitive men. These men had been searching for a human to sacrifice, and they had found him. However, they needed someone whose body was without cuts and wounds. When they saw one of the king’s fingers missing, they set him free.
The king now understood that God’s plan should always be trusted.
Finding his way back to the kingdom, the king went straight to the minister in the dungeon and apologized. Relating his story he said, “I am so sorry for subjecting you to hardships of living in this dungeon.” The minister replied, “God did well to do this.” The king was puzzled and asked how it was good that the minister had spent many days in the dark dungeon.
The minister replied, “O king! If I had been with you, I would have lost my life today. Your captors would have sacrificed me instead.”
