Devotion requires our fortitude and tenacity. Through hardships, we build strength. We may feel devotion when life is happy, but maintaining devotion through difficult circumstances is the true test. Hurdles appear in dealing with family and friends. Overcoming our own inertia is also difficult. But true devotion is like tempered steel: it is strengthened and purified by the fire of adversity. When we acquire spiritual strength, we can encourage others.

Because of many obstacles and troubles that came to Prahlada and because of the punishments that were given to him, it was possible for the rest of the world to know how great Prahlada’s devotion was.

Summer Roses on the Blue Mountains

We should welcome troubles as tests to prove our devotion. Tests provide an opportunity to remove karmic obstacles that hold us back. Even the finest gold must be melted and hammered to give it shape; so also the rough diamond only gains in value when it is cut and polished. True devotion remains constant and full in the face of adversity.

God is ignored in sunshine; he is wanted only when there is night. Devotion must persist and flourish, unaffected by time, place, or circumstances.

Sathya Sai Speaks 9