Does it Ever End?

Today I feel as though I am being repeatedly kicked in the stomach.  Just when I think things cannot get any worse, guess what, they do.  I feel like I am loosing it a little as anger and insanity creep into my mind.  My mind sounds much like the ramblings of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:21-28:

What anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 

On the one hand I understand that those that have been called of God to do great things must, and I do mean must, go through the fire a few times but on the other hand I'm saying "Oh, come on!"  Now I know that may sound childish but I am sure there are others out there that have felt the same way.  It's the feeling, like in all the good hero movies, where the hero spends half the movie fighting an evil force only to find out that when it is gone, it was only a minion of a greater evil.  Its the feeling of many gamers that fight and fight for hour after hour, they get to the final chamber, beat the boss, start to cheer, and are killed when the boss reappears somehow.  Are you with me?

The only comfort I have through all this is that if I am tried and tested this much then there must be great things about to happen.  So, if you are in the same predicament remember these words, "Satan only pays attention to threats."  If you want revenge, go and take it by doing something great for God.