When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other (Ecclesiastes 7:14; NIV).
The LORD your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul (Deuteronomy 13:3; NLT).
God sends good times and bad times into our lives, in order to help us grow in faith.
Early in life, our understanding of God is usually quite limited. As we face and come through each test, our faith is often challenged, and sometimes lost entirely. This happens when we cannot square what we have experienced with our limited, or even mistaken, understanding of God.
Slowly and painfully, we learn to accept what has happened, and to come to terms with it. In response to this inner emotional, psychological and spiritual process, our faith may change, broaden and deepen. Lost faith can slowly be rebuilt, though often with very different ways of understanding God than those we had previously.
This healing process can happen repeatedly during our lifetime, moving our faith and understanding forward stage by stage, as we grow towards full maturity. Hopefully, by the time we reach death we will have fulfilled our potential for spiritual growth. This is what God wants for us all, and fortunately we never have to go through it alone, even when, like Jesus on the cross, we feel as if God has abandoned us.
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God (Isaiah 43:2-3; NLT).
References
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine” (Isaiah 55:8; NLT).
When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow (James 1:3; NLT).
Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him (Colossians 3:10; NLT).
Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you (Isaiah 30:20; NLT).
Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness (Colossians 2:7; NLT).
Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me (Psalm 23:4; NLT).
No test has overtaken you but what is common to all people. You can be confident that God is faithful and will not let you be tested beyond your means. And with any trial God will provide you with a way out of it, as well as the strength to bear the trial (1 Corinthians 10:13; TIB).
God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them (Romans 8:28; NLT).