When hard times come upon us, do we ask "why me?" Or do we treat adversity as the athelete treats his training. It is tough, but without it I can never become what I could be. Our troubles are our training to make us what be are capable of being.

In the Old Testament, Job went through more than most men could hope to endure. He did not suffer in patience, but neither did he curse God as the devil said he would. In the midst of his afflictions, he said: "Though skin worms eat my body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." It is true he saw the toughness of the trials, but he never lost sight of the man he could become.

D. C. Forbes has written a little poem that sheds some light on Adversity.

If times are hard and you are blue,
Think of others worrying too.
Just because your trials are many
Don't think others haven't any.
Life's made up of smiles and tears,
Joys and sorrows mixed with fears.
Though to us it seems one sided
Trouble is pretty well divided.
If we could look in every heart;
We'd find that each one has his part.
And them who travel fortunes road
Sometimes carry the biggest load.

And again Shakespeare, has put things in perspective, when he said,
"Sweet are the uses of adversity, which like the toad ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head."

Our troubles are our teachers.