Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.

If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, then they can sure make something out of you.

and prefers to sit out a problem rather than sweat out a solution. That nonchalant and perfunctory attitude is a powerful tool of satan in his efforts to retard the growth of God's Kingdom.

What you see as a crisis, God sees as an opportunity for growth. What you see as humiliating, He sees as an occasion for the development of humble leadership. It is all in how you see it. What is your perspective?

Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challanges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful. —Mark Victor Hansen

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth. —SUSAN TAYLOR

Love will always suffer. If the church tries to win victories either all in a rush or by steps taken in some other spirit, it may appear to succeed for a while. Think of the pomp and "glory" of the late medieval church. But the "victory" will be hollow and will leave all kinds of problems in its wake.

Even when Polycarp is on trial for his life, he is content to say, like Jesus before Pilate in John 19.11, that God has appointed the pagan governor who is about to [165] pass sentence.

The older we get, the bigger the catalog of failures Satan can throw in our faces. You may think, 'I don't have anything to offer.' But you can teach out of your failures as well as your successes (p. 223).

It seems that Peter is saying the goal of apologetics is not just to present better arguments but to exhibit a better character, especially when suffering hostility and opposition.

Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit.