suffering and faith...

In his book "In the Eye of the Storm", Max Lucado says this about suffering and faith...

A season of suffering is a small price to pay for a clear view of God.

Faith is not born at the negotiating table where we barter our gifts in exchange for God's goodness. Faith is not an award given to the most learned. It's not a prize given to the most disciplined. It's not a title bequeathed to the most religious.

Faith is a desperate dive out of the sinking boat of human effort and a prayer that God will be there to pull us out of the water.

During this testing period, I come to a point where I realise where human efforts end and God's grace begins. Most of our lives, when we work diligently and with good intent, we are often able to achieve our personal goals. But there are times where, hard as we try, we fail and fall flat on our faces. It's then that we learn that failure can often can be the beginning of faith.