Trials are common to all believers. And they are not the result of any lack of interest or caring on God’s part. Just the opposite, actually: He allows suffering because He deeply cares about us. His glorious purpose for our lives dictates that He press us toward His long-term goal, instead of providing counterproductive short-term solutions. This is no doubt why God’s promise that we are “children of God…heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” is made along with this qualifying statement: “if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”(Romans 8:16-17)

Will I continue to trust God in my circumstances? Or will I cut and run by giving in to my natural inclination to do things my own way—in the process showing God that I really do not trust Him. God allows suffering not that He might discover what we harbor in our heart. He already knows what’s there. Rather, God wants us to recognize what is concealed within, and suffering is His tool for laying it all out on the table.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself