Does God trust you enough to let you fail?

“What son is not disciplined by his father?” ~ Writer of Hebrews

Does God trust you enough to let you fail?

I have been taught from the time I was little that I needed to trust God.  But does God trust me enough to let me fail?  I have five children (1 son and 4 daughters) and on most days the workload is plenty big enough to keep my wife and I out of trouble.  Our goal as we teach our children is for them to learn from their mistakes when they are young so they will grow up to be productive and mature adults.  If I always coddle my kids and never let them experience the pain of failure, how will they ever learn the joy of hard work and success?

As God’s children, most of us are taught by our churches growing up to be spoiled rotten.  I’m sure that God wants all of His children to grow up to be productive and mature people of faith.  So then why would we expect God to give us everything we want and never learn the pain of failure?

My youngest daughter is just getting the hang of walking.  I watch her fall down over and over again.  But this is essential training so that she can learn balance.  If she doesn’t learn to walk, how will she ever run?  Does it hurt me as her father to see her fall?  Of course, but what kind of father would I be if I always carried her everywhere and never let her learn on her own?

Likewise, how will we ever grow up in our faith if we are coddled by our Heavenly Father and never encouraged to walk on our own?  How will we ever learn to be responsible and mature if we always expect God to remove the consequences of our own actions?  God wants us to grow up in our faith.  He wants us to be spiritually healthy and well balanced.  So then, does God trust me enough to let me fail?

Food for thought.

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1. RAY — June 26, 2010 @ 10:19 am

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