Isaiah 43:2 tells us that when we pass through the waters God will be with us and when we walk through the fire we will not be burned. Psalm 23:4 assures us that when we go through the valley of the shadow of death, again, God will be with us. Everyone deals with challenging situations at one time or another, but it's how we deal with those challenges that is important. God is there to help us and 1 Cor.10:13 tells us that he won't allow us to be tried beyond what we can bear and he will always make a way out for us. James 1:3 tells us that that the trying of our faith leads to patience. The Greek word used for patience is hupomone, which is not just the ability to endure things but to overcome them. Verse 4 says that patience makes us perfect which in fact means mature. So, trials cause us to mature and grow spiritually. When we go through trials we need to rely heavily on God trusting that: "many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of them all" (Ps 34:19; KJV).

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