2. JAMES 3:1
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

3. JAMES 1:2
When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends!  (Phillips)

4. JAMES 1:2
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds

5. 1 PETER 4:15-16
But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

6. PSALM 119:67
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.

7. 1 PETER 1:7
…so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

8. JOB 5:7
…man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.

9. JOHN 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

10. ACTS 14:22
…that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

11. 1 PETER 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

12. 2 TIMOTHY 3:12
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted

13. 1 PETER 1:6
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials

14. PHILIPPIANS 1:6
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

15. 1 PETER 5:10
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

16. ACTS 5:41
Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

17. ROMANS 5:3
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance

18. Macarthur
When we face trials with the attitude that James admonishes, we discover that the greatest part of the joy is drawing closer to the Lord—the Source of all joy—by becoming more sensitive to His presence, His goodness, His love, and His grace. Our prayer life increases, as does our interest in and study of the Word, and in each of those ways our joy increases all the more.

19. Spurgeon
I have looked back to times of trial with a kind of longing, not to have them return, but to feel the strength of God as I have felt it then, to feel the power of faith, as I have felt it then, to hang upon God’s powerful arm as I hung upon it then, and to see God at work as I saw him then.

20. Spurgeon
The natural tendency of trouble is not to sanctify, but to induce sin. A man is very apt to become unbelieving under affliction: that is a sin. He is apt to murmur against God under it: that is a sin. He is apt to put forth his hand to some ill way of escaping from his difficulty: and that would be sin. Hence…

21. Spurgeon
we are taught to pray, ‘Lead us not into temptation; because trial has in itself a measure of temptation’; and if it were not neutralized by abundant grace it would bear us towards sin.

22. Day By Day Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear

23. JAMES 1:3
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

24. 2 CORINTHIANS 4:18
If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

25. Spurgeon
Faith is as vital to salvation as the heart is vital to the body: hence the javelins of the enemy are mainly aimed at this essential grace.

26. JAMES 1:4
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

27. Watson
Though Christ died to take away the curse from us, yet not to take away the cross from us.

28. Spurgeon
How can I look to be at home in the enemy's country, joyful while in exile, or comfortable in a wilderness? This is not my rest. This is the place of the furnace and the forge and the hammer.

29. Spurgeon
There are no crown-wearers in heaven that were not cross-bearers here below.