The Hair of the Lion’s Tail

“The Hair of the Lion’s Tail” is a beautiful story that has been helpful to speakers and couples’ preachers.

In a remote region, a young man and a young woman fell in love and got married. They lived happily for a long time, until trouble came. They began to see each other’s mistakes in the little things, he accused her of spending too much at the market, she accused him of always being late. Not a day went by without an argument about money, about housework, about friends.

Sometimes they got so mad that they yelled and yelled profanities and went to bed without speaking, which only made things worse.

After a few months the wife thought she couldn’t take it anymore and went to a wise old judge to ask for a divorce.

“Why?” the judge asked. “You are married less than a year ago. Do not you love your husband anymore?”

“Yes” she said, “I love him, but things are not going well.”

“Like this?” asked the judge.

“Oh, we fight a lot, he does things that annoy me. He leaves clothes all over the house, cuts his toenails in the living room and leaves it on the floor, comes home late. Whenever I want to do something, he wants to do something else. We can’t live together,” she replied.

“I see,” said the old judge. “Maybe I can help. I know a magic medicine that will make you get along much better. If I give you this medicine, will you stop thinking about divorce?”

“Yes!” she stated. “What is the medicine? Give me!”

“Calm down,” said the judge. “To make the medicine I need a thread from the tail of a big lion that lives near the river. You have to bring that thread to me.”

“But how am I going to achieve this?” exclaimed the woman. “That lion is wild, he will kill me!”

“I can’t help you with that,” said the old man, shaking his head. “I know a lot about medicine, but I don’t know anything about lions. You have to find a way. Will you try?”

The young wife thought for a long time. She loved her husband very much, and the medicine was going to save their marriage. She decided to get the lion’s hair.

The next morning, she went to the river and hid behind a rock. A little while later, the lion came to drink water. When she saw the huge paws, she was shaking with fear. The lion opened its mouth, showing its sharp teeth, and she almost fainted. Then the lion roared and she ran home.

But the next morning she returned to the river, bringing a piece of fresh meat. She left the meat in the grass on the bank, two hundred yards from the lion, and hid behind the rock while he ate.

The next day, she came back and put the piece of meat a hundred yards away from the lion; the next day, she put the meat fifty yards from the lion and didn’t hide while he ate.

“You too exercise patience; make your hearts firm, because the presence of the Lord has drawn close.” (James 5:8)

So, each day she got closer to the lion, until one day she got so close that she was able to put the meat in his mouth. The next day, the lion came to eat out of her hand. She shuddered at the sight of the huge teeth tearing through the flesh, but she loved her husband more than she feared the lion. Very slowly, she reached down and plucked a hair from the beast’s tail.

She ran back to the judge.

“Look!” she screamed. “I brought you a lion’s hair!”

The old man took the thread and examined it closely.

“That was very brave of you,” he said. “And it took a lot of patience, didn’t it?”

“Oh yes,” she said. “Now give me the medicine to save my marriage!”

The old judge said to her: “You already took the medicine.”

“Like this?” she asked. “You promised me the medicine, I risked my life for it!”

“Calm down, girl. Patience!” he replied.

“Don’t ask me to be patient. I want the medicine you promised” she said.

“I’m not asking you to be patient. I’m saying the medicine for your marriage is PATIENCE. The same patience you had to get the fur from that wild lion’s tail.”

What can we learn from this illustration? It’s very easy, due to living together, for us to end up focusing too much on our spouse’s flaws, especially newlyweds.

That way, it can be difficult for us to remember why we chose that person to be on our side, to see his or her qualities. So, dear brothers and sisters, always try to be patient, to keep seeing the good side of your husband or wife and keep the qualities highlighted, not the defects.

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