He that is down need fear no fall.

Temptations, when we meet them at first, are as the lion that roared upon Samson; but if we overcome them, the next time we see them we shall find a nest of honey within them.

Temptations, when we first meet them, are like a lion that roared at Samson; but if we overcome them, the next time we see them we shall find a nest of honey within them.

Dark clouds bring waters, when the bright bring none.

The suffering we bring on ourselves, we can ask to be taken away from us once we repent of it. The suffering sent to instruct us, we can ask for the strength to endure, and the humbleness to be instructed.

Believers are also trained in obedience by means of the cross. For thus they are taught to live according to God's will rather than their own. If everything went according to their own plans, they would never know what it means to follow God.

It is clear that bearing the cross patiently does not mean that we harden ourselves or do not feel any sorrow; according to the old notion of the Stoic philosophers that a greathearted man is someone who has laid off his humanity, and who is not touched by adversity and prosperity, and not even by joy and sorrow, but who acts like a cold rock.

If only we were convinced deep in our hearts that persecutions are among God's blessings, what progress we should make in the knowledge of divine truth!

There is no end and no limit to the obstacles of the man who wants to pursue what is right and at the same time shrinks back from self-denial.

So it will be that no matter what kind of cross is placed upon us, we will steadily maintain endurance even through the narrowest straits of the soul.

For the more we are afflicted by adversities, the more surely our fellowship with Christ is confirmed!

Affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath enough of it.