Issaayyaas Kitaaba 48:10

Failure is more common in life than success. Success is often the result of many failures. God uses trials and pain to purify us, and also to restore us and take us to a higher place. Success makes us proud of ourselves, but failure makes us humble and ready to trust the Lord. Failure is what God uses to lift us up to a place of complete trust in Him.

The past 22 years of my career have culminated in my new album, 'Deeper Waters.' Throughout my life, God has richly grown the roots of my faith — namely through suffering. As I look to the future, I pray those roots only grow stronger. Over the next five days, I want to invite you to pursue a more vibrant relationship with Jesus. Journey with me as we dive into deeper waters.

We hold on to the promise that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab 2:14). Yet we don’t have to wait for that future day to spend time pondering and relishing God’s glory. In this 6-day devotional, James Hamilton guides readers through Scripture and enables them to pause and treasure God’s glory.

Trials often feel overwhelming, but they carry the fingerprints of a loving God who desires our ultimate good. Consider the metaphor of a silversmith refining silver. The silver must endure intense heat for impurities to be removed, leaving behind a purer, more valuable material. Similarly, God allows us to face challenges to cleanse us from the dross of self-reliance, pride, and sin, molding us into vessels fit for His purposes (Malachi 3:3).