Christians learn to submit to trials because Jesus told us that we must carry the cross with him. Buddhists do it because the Buddha very directly said that life is suffering, but the real goal is to choose skillful and necessary suffering over what is usually just resented and projected suffering. In that the Buddha was a spiritual genius, and we Christians could learn a lot from him and his mature followers.

The wounds to our ego are our teachers and must be welcomed. They must be paid attention to, not litigated.

Anne Wilson Schaef

Glory follows afflictions, not as the day follows the night but as the spring follows the winter; for the winter prepares the earth for the spring, so do afflictions sanctified prepare the soul for glory.

Better to be in trouble with Christ, than in peace without him.

God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

When God wants to make a mushroom, he does it overnight, but when He wants to make a giant oak, He takes a hundred years. Great souls are grown through struggles and storms and seasons of suffering. Be patient with the process.

The deepest level of worship is praising God inspite of pain, trusting Him during a trial, surrendering while suffering, and loving Him when He seems distant.

You can't grow strong without resistance.

Grief is a good thing. It's the way we get through the transitions of life.

Character is both developed and revealed by test and all of life is a test.

Failure is a part of everyone's journey. But it is your attitude toward failure that will determine your ultimate success.