Job 23:10 (NIV) But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV) For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
1 Peter 1:6-7 (NIV) 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
We grow and mature spiritually through adversity—not when everything is going smoothly... [I]n a time of adversity or trouble, the Christian has the opportunity to know God in a special and personal way. —C. Everett Koop former U.S. Surgeon General.
Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 4., Elesha Hodge, comp., Today's Best Illustrations – Volumes 1-4, (Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today, 1997), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "ADVERSITY".
