However hard we may have exerted ourselves in the past, the important thing is how we challenge ourselves from now on. We need to rouse even stronger faith than we have before. The heavenly deities, or benevolent functions of the universe, will protect us if we do. The appearance of the “three powerful enemies” and the “three obstacles and four devils”—of any kind of hardship—is simply a test of our faith, all necessary for us to bring forth the life state of Buddhahood.

From The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 2, revised edition, p. 131