Every challenge is nothing more than a chance to make things better.

Sometimes you succeed.... and other times you learn.

Storms draw something out of us that calm seas don't.

It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who love generously know.

I'm very brave generally,' he went on in a low voice: 'only today I happen to have a headache.' (Tweedledum)

It was not pastoral teaching, or small group fellowship, or worship services, or books of theology — rather, they mentioned suffering. "People said they grew more during seasons of loss, pain, and crisis than they did at any other time." We discover the hidden value of suffering only by suffering — not as part of God's original or ultimate plan for us, but as a redemptive transformation that takes place in the midst of trial.

True health is the strength to live, the strength to suffer, and the strength to die.

Virtually every passage on suffering in the New Testament deflects the emphasis from cause to response.

one East European Christian observed, "You Western Christians often seem to consider material prosperity to be the only sign of God's blessing. On the other hand, you often seem to perceive poverty, discomfort, and suffering as signs of God's disfavor. In some ways we in the East understand suffering from the opposite perspective. We believe that suffering may be a sign of God's favor and trust in the Christians to whom the trial is permitted to come.

In a sense, Job must replay the original test of the garden of Eden, with the bar raised higher. Living in paradise, Adam and Eve faced a best-case scenario for trusting God, who asked so little of them and showered down blessings. In a living hell, Job faces the worst-case scenario: God asks so much, while curses rain down on him.

Happiness recedes from those who pursue her." Happiness will come upon me unexpectedly as a by-product, a surprising bonus for something I have invested myself in. And, most likely, that investment will include pain. It is hard to imagine pleasure without it.

the best way to prepare for suffering is to work on a strong, supportive life when you're healthy.