More than that,
we rejoice in our sufferings,
knowing that
   suffering produces endurance,
and endurance produces character,
and character produces hope,
and hope does not disappoint us,
because God's love has been
    poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit
which has been given to us.

                    Romans 5. 3-5

(This hard place
is not random at all,
but full of meaning
and God's purposes in it
to draw me
       step by step
into a closer intimacy with Him.
No matter what,
          even in this.)