1 Peter 4:12-13(NLT)
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

This is a sticking point and one that’s really hard to get our heads around. Why would God make my life so hard, full of so much pain, so difficult to understand? Why doesn’t he just make it all better and happy all the time?

I’ve had and caused my share of pain in my life. For those I’ve hurt, I am deeply, deeply sorry and hope that you can forgive me. For the pain in my life, I’ve come to accept that the trials of this world are just that – trials. Nothing more. If they kill me, so what? If they don’t, they are deepening my faith. Weird, huh? How come I’m not blaming God?

It’s our arrogance that thinks we deserve a soft cushy life. Really, because of sin, we deserve what we get as if there wasn’t grace. Think about it for a second. If you were God and told someone “this is how it is if you do, this is how it is if you don’t”, and they went and did what you told them not to do, what do you do? Hello parents! Do you really care about the cries of how unfair it is to the child on the time out stool (sorry Jack, I never should have forgotten you were on the time out stool – my bad for sure). Except for once, I never paid it any mind. I said no, they said yes, no wins. Do you love your kids less? Of course not. Are you trying to teach them to behave and take a course you know is better for them? Of course.

Ezekiel 18:21 (NLT)
21 But if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die.

Sometimes the pain makes no sense – to us. Sometimes we just have to accept that God might know what’s better for us than we know what’s better for us. Sometimes he just says no, this isn’t the way I want you to go. Sometimes we have to bear inequity of trials to understand just how deep his love for us is, because we’ll never understand the pain he went through to give us grace.

Psalm 61:2 (NLT)
2 From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety.

Sometimes life does suck and yeah, we’re supposed to be glad. It works with the right God.