Out of defeat can come the best in human nature. As Christians face storms of adversity, they may rise with more beauty. They are like trees that grow on mountain ridges -- battered by winds, yet trees in which we find the strongest wood.

Repeated disappointment almost always triggers a series of other reactions: discouragement, anger, frustration, bitterness, resentment, even depression. Unless we learn to deal with disappointment, it will rob us of joy and poison our souls.

God wants us to be broken in spirit so that He can make us strong at the broken places

While disappointment and failure aren't identical, they often occur together, and both can hold us back from God's best for our lives.

God promises no easy life or days without troubles, trials, difficulties, and temptations. He never promises that life will be perfect. He does not call His children to a playground, but to a battleground.

The study [of Revelation] instructs us not only about the storms to come, but how to endure and come through them with great victory.

The time to prepare for life's disappointments and hurts is in advance.

Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valleys.

Trials and difficulties may assail the life of a believer, but they also have the ability to remold his character and banish from his life those impurities which might impair growth and service.

Following Christ has been made too easy. It is easy to follow Him when our world is safe and comfortable . . .but when that world shatters, only a secure faith will sustain us.

Becoming "new" in Christ is a wonderful beginning, but it isn't the end of pain or problems in our lives. It is the beginning of our facing up to them. Being a Christian involves a lifetime of hard work, dedicated study, and difficult decisions.

There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is to simply try to get rid of the trial, and be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever had.