Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
-- James 1:2-4 (ESV)
John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistle of James:
He did not say 'when you fall into trials,' but 'when you meet them.' As if they were something that one encounters on the road and passes through -- not something that overtakes and destroys. The difference is in the man, not in the trial.
Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening:
We are not to look upon our trials as punishments, but as the loving discipline of a wise Father who is preparing us for a greater inheritance. The furnace is not lit to destroy the gold, but to reveal it.
Augustine, Confessions, Book X:
Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee. Yet we must not mistake comfort for rest. God gives rest in Himself, not in our circumstances. The man who waits for favorable conditions before he will be faithful has already abandoned the post where God placed him.
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book I, Chapter 25:
If you would know how much evil you can endure, consider how much you have already suffered without being overcome. The measure of a man is not what he does on the mountain, but what he does in the valley between mountains, when no one is watching and no one will ever know.
What are you tolerating today that you would not tolerate if you believed God was paying attention -- and what makes you think He is not?
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book IV.3:
People look for retreats for themselves in the country, at the seashore, in the mountains. But this is altogether unphilosophical. You can retire into yourself at any time. Nowhere can a man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.
St. Clair, MI -- Partly cloudy clearing to sunny. High 81°F. Northeast winds to 10 mph. Tonight: mostly clear, areas of fog developing, low 62°F. Light winds.