No Christian is in a healthy state of mind who is not prepared for trouble and persecution.
He that expects to cross the troubled waters of this world, and to reach heaven with wind and tide always in his favor, knows nothing yet as he ought to know. We never can tell what is before us in life. But of one thing we may be very sure – we must carry the cross if we would wear the crown. Let us grasp this principle firmly, and never forget it.
~ J.C. Ryle
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, volume 3, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987], 148.