It was a difficult second record. I had moments where I couldn't write; had moments where I was writing lots. It was just a massive learning process for me.

I've played in a lot of big matches and you learn from them.

In the scriptures, we are told you can't really understand happiness unless you understand sadness. You don't know pleasure if you don't know pain. It's part of life. So can you learn something from somebody who has gone from success to success to success? I don't think so.

When you try to avoid the pain, it creates greater pain.

When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.

When we long for life without difficulty, remind us that oaks grow strong under contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.

When we long for a live without difficulties, remind us that diamonds are made under pressure and oaks grow strong in contrary winds.

Mature spiritual leadership is forged in the crucible of difficult conversations, the pressure of conflicted relationships, the pain of setbacks, and dark nights of the soul.

What are the hurricane winds, internal and external, that prevent us from becoming all God intends?

Every church, yea, every truth and every good cause, has its martyrs, who stood the fiery trial and sacrificed comfort and life itself to their sacred convictions. The blood of martyrs is the seed of toleration; toleration is the seed of liberty; and liberty is the most precious gift of God to every man who has been made in his image and redeemed by Christ.

God uses chronic pain and weakness, along with other afflictions, as his chisel for sculpting our lives. Felt weakness deepens dependency on Christ for strength each day. The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually, even while our bodies waste away.

Gut-wrenching questions honor God. Despair directed at God is a way of encountering him, opening ourselves up to the One and only Someone who can actually do something about our plight. And whether we, like Greg, collide with the Almighty or simply bump up against him, we cannot be the same. We never are when we experience God.