Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

The Blessing of Failure

I was listening to a message by Dr. Randy Pike on the blessing of failure.  Just like God sends good to the evil and the good, he also sends trouble and trials to the evil and the good.  I believe at times, we think that just because we are saved we should not have to go through the trials of life, as the lost do.  That is not true.  We will go through things just like the lost.  We will have good times and bad times, sunshine and rain.  Sometimes it seems like God’s best saints go through the most trials and come out better.

The Difference in the Sinner and the Saint

The big difference between the sinner and the saint is that the sinner will blame God and the saint will blame himself.  The sinner is proud and the saint is humble.  The same sinner who fails to recognize God in his prosperity blames him for all his troubles, when he starts to reap what he has sown.  The saint will keep going on, in the worst of times, even when it seems God is a million miles away.  The sinner hates the rain because it ruins all his fun, the saint sees it as a blessing because it causes things to grow in his life.  The saint needs to look at the blessings that are wrapped up in his failures.

All Things Work for Good

God allows unbelievable things to work together in ways that cause us to draw closer to him.  Without the rain in our life, we would wither and die.  We can’t have all sunshine and no rain.  God sees what we need in our life and gives us the nutrients and just what we need.  We often look at the bad as failures, but God looks at it as good.  You could be living right in the center of God’s will, living a holy life, yet still have troubles and failures in many areas.  That does not mean God has forsaken you.  That likely means he is closer to you than any other.  Don’t ever doubt the providence of God in your life.  Be open to listening for opportunities, even if they look like failures. There is a blessing hidden in that cloud of rain.