Look for the silver lining, says an old song, adding, "There's a silver lining behind every cloud you see." Is this true?

One struggling sufferer said if all clouds are supposed to have silver linings some of his clouds must be defective.

Is there really any reason to expect good things to develop out of trials?
Best-selling author, Phillip Keller, thinks so. In his book, "Strength of Soul," he says: "There is a silver edge to life! The tapestry of our lives is embroidered with blessings. All is not dark. Our part is to search for the silver lining."

Have you ever made an impulse buy?  Recently, at a local feed store we couldn't pass up an opportunity to add to the family farm. So, on impulse, we bought a bunch of those cute little meat chickens.  The kids embraced the idea and we gleaned what we could from the friendly sales lady and we took our 18 chicks home from the store to fatten them up.  How hard could a three month commitment be?  After a couple of weeks in the house keeping them nurtured and warm, the smell alone made us want to send these new "house guests" on their way.

An e-mail arrived with a lesson I’ll not soon forget. This missile from a respected minister and friend told of a personal inventory of his motives in life and described a change of heart that would be good for us all. He began by saying his passion in the past had been to be right. He had studied hard so he would be right on theological matters. He had chosen high moral standards so he would always be doing right, not wrong. And while these, admittedly, are good goals, he is now facing the fact that these admirable traits can be based on the vice of pride.

The author and preacher G. K. Chesterton once sat in a group of other literary experts who were being interviewed. Someone asked the writers what book they would most want to have with them if stranded on a deserted island. "The complete works of Shakespeare," the first author fired off without hesitation. "I choose the Bible," said another. The great man of God, Chesterton, replied: "I would choose Thomas' Guide to Practical Shipbuilding."