I'm finally convinced: Troubles and tests are actually GENUINE gifts bestowed on us from Providence (that is, for the purification of our characters), not just an imagined/abstract IDEA of a gift, as I might previously have thought of them.
May this change of perception help me to be truly thankful for whatever difficulties I am confronted with--in the words of Baha'u'llah, to be "thankful in adversity" (GWB 285).
A couple of more writings, by Shoghi Effendi, on the subject:
"The fact of the matter is that service in the Cause is like the plough which ploughs the physical soil when seeds are sown. It is necessary that the soil be ploughed up, so that it can be enriched, and thus cause a stronger growth of the seed....
"[I]n reality these tests and difficulties have been the gifts of God to enable [one] to grow and develop. Thus you might look upon your own difficulties in the path of service. They are the means of your spirit growing and developing. You will suddenly find that you have conquered many of the problems which upset you, and then you will wonder why they should have troubled you at all."
(Written through his sectretary, in "Living the life", #1334)
http://bahai-library.com/compilations/living.life.html
"Suffering is both a reminder and a guide. It stimulates us better to adapt ourselves to our environmental conditions, and thus leads the way to self improvement. In every suffering one can find a meaning and a wisdom. But it is not always easy to find the secret of that wisdom. It is sometimes only when all our suffering has passed that we become aware of its usefulness. What man considers to be evil turns often to be a cause of infinite blessings. And this is due to his desire to know more than he can. God's wisdom is, indeed, inscrutable to us all, and it is no use pushing too far trying to discover that which shall always remain a mystery to our mind."
http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/UD/ud-580.html.utf8
"[I]n reality these tests and difficulties have been the gifts of God to enable [one] to grow and develop. Thus you might look upon your own difficulties in the path of service. They are the means of your spirit growing and developing. You will suddenly find that you have conquered many of the problems which upset you, and then you will wonder why they should have troubled you at all."
(Written through his sectretary, in "Living the life", #1334)
http://bahai-library.com/compilations/living.life.html
"Suffering is both a reminder and a guide. It stimulates us better to adapt ourselves to our environmental conditions, and thus leads the way to self improvement. In every suffering one can find a meaning and a wisdom. But it is not always easy to find the secret of that wisdom. It is sometimes only when all our suffering has passed that we become aware of its usefulness. What man considers to be evil turns often to be a cause of infinite blessings. And this is due to his desire to know more than he can. God's wisdom is, indeed, inscrutable to us all, and it is no use pushing too far trying to discover that which shall always remain a mystery to our mind."
http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/UD/ud-580.html.utf8
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