Why failure can be good for us.

This was something I found that was helpful in dealing with our failures. These are a few of the notes I took. I found this sermon by Lane Craig here--but you have to register to listen to it: http://www.reasonablefaith.org/site/PageServer?pagename=audio_visuals#talks

Lane Craig was studying in German for his Doctorate in Theology and he failed his oral exams. He was utterly crushed....couldn't understand why God would allow this etc. Why after all this time and effort he didn't get his doctorate? But some of the things he learned from this failure was what was of priority in his life. He realized that the most important thing in life was relationship to God and to family. That true success was not power, wealth or fame. That spiritually getting to know God better was true success and that learning to really know God in Christ and being a success in the Lords eyes was just that....He said that in God's plan for success for us, Failure could be part of the plan--How we go through failure is important--do we go through it with bitterness, depression, despair? OR do we go through it with faith, courage, dependence on God?True success is loving God and Man...we need to give thanks to God not for our failure , but in our failures. We also need to learn different lessons, even if we don't know why God allowed it. We need to learn what our reaction should be, as a person of faith. We need to learn what Character traits we should have and what we did or could have done differently. We need to learn never to give up----here he refers to the struggles T. ROOSEVELT had growing up.....and how I think he was the only president to have earned the Medal of Honor on the battlefield. He tells of the quote of Roosevelt of daring greatly ----and how it is better to try great things and fail than to be timid-- (the actual quote was great)--and he urges us to stay in the Arena, Ask God for strength to go on---learning endurance....trusting God to work all for our good! Lane Craig failed to get his doctorate, but Germany lets you go for the oral test a second time. So Craig studied for a year!! went back, and earned his doctorate---plus he had such a wonderful deeper knowledge because of it. So sometime listen to the sermon in the future--it is about 40 minutes.