There is often the question of “Why does God let bad things happen?”, or “Why do bad things happen to good people?” It may not always be the answer we want to hear but, Jesus lets bad times come upon our lives in order to test our faith in Him and to strengthen our faith in Him. He tests us in order to see if we turn to Him or run far from Him in our time of need.

When we turn from Him, our lives start to crumble into uncontrolled chaos and then we don’t know what to do. Often times, the last thing we even think about is turning back to our Lord and savior for the help He wants to freely give us. He doesn’t want to see us suffering here on Earth and it literally causes Him pain to see His children suffering. He also doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle without first giving us a way out of it. He also doesn’t let us be tempted beyond what we can bear without first giving us a way out of it, either.

No matter what we may be suffering through during our trying times in life, God has a greater plan for our lives. Even if we can’t see what His greater plan for our lives is, right away, or we choose to ignore the signs of His mercy right in front of our faces during our times of suffering, God still promises to always be with us. He didn’t have to promise to always be there for us but He did.

Whenever bad things happen, we shouldn’t be so quick to automatically blame God.  He uses the bad things to fulfill His greater plan. He uses our suffering as an opportunity to grow in our faith and display His glory, which is the fulfillment of the very purpose for our existence.

He can use our suffering to teach us what not to do. It can teach us not to grumble about every little thing in our lives. It can also teach us not to take everything for granted. Our sufferings can also help mold us into better people than what we were before the hardships came upon us. The hardships can teach us not to lie, not to cheat, not to gossip or talk badly about someone. They can also teach us not to ever give up on the things we want to achieve most in this life.
Our hardships can teach us everything we need to know in life. The hard times can teach us to fight even harder for the things we want most in this life. They can also teach us to remember how blessed we really are regardless of how hard things are, or how hard they can get. They can also teach us to love others unconditionally and to be more like Christ and love others the way He does.
Our hardships can teach us to be more like Christ and to lead others to Him with imitating Jesus.
Remember all things that happen to us are meant to fulfill His greater purpose. What your purpose is in this life, God may not reveal to you right away but keep the faith and trust in Him and that He has a plan for every part of your life.

There is so much we can do in this life. One of the greatest achievements is knowing that God can help us accomplish anything through our trials. Even if we may not see a way out or through our obstacles, with God there is always a way. Whether we walk or run through the trials or even if we crawl through them, God will help us through them. When there seems to be no way, He will make a way. Even when it seems as though He is silent, remember, the teacher is always silent during the test. We may not always see His plans working out directly in front of our eyes, but He is always working on our lives and on our stories behind the scenes. His goal through our trials is for His name to be glorified.

We should be able to look back at our trials and say, “Lord thank you for getting me through this even when I didn’t think I could get through it. You got me through it even when I didn’t believe in myself. When I didn’t see anything but weakness, you gave me the strength that I didn’t even know I had. Help me to continue to glorify your name and to realize that each battle, trial, and scar has helped strengthen me to reach my full potential in your name.”