The center of the cross is where you will find the heart of Jesus.

Often, it's only by troubles and strife that we learn all the things we need to know... faith, gratitude, real humility, compassion for others and so on. If the Lord never let us suffer, think how selfish and self centered we'd be... how ungrateful for anything less than everything we want.

But God looks at the eternal picture, and knows where the real treasures are. The things that make us better human beings, not necessarily wealthier ones.

And there's justice, too. If we don't believe we should ever pay for our sins in any way, then what does that say about our view of God and our offenses against Him? One who is angry at being punished for their wrongs is not really sorry for them, or does not really believe that they were wrong. If He was willing to carry our cross, why shouldn't we be?

Very hard to live sometimes... but true. But it's also true that God does not do anything but out of goodness, even if we are sometimes too blind to understand.