<DIV><p>When life is hard, you know, really hard, we often spend all our time pleading, begging, yelling, refusing, and questioning. While none of these things are necessarily unusual, they are missing the ultimate point. When life is hard, when things get ugly, when all hope seems to be lost… that is when we are able to display the superiority of the life lived in God.</p><p>It is in those moments of despair, when we question what is happening, when we don't know what to do, when some trials never…seem…to…end, that we can lean most heavily into God's promises and truths.<BR><br> Working his way through five questions we've all had run through our heads trusted pastor James MacDonald helps us to understand what we should do now. We begin the journey by looking at different types of "trials" and figuring out exactly what we're dealing with and recognizing that God certainly knows. Second, the obvious question: "Why?" God sees us going through trials and we long for two things: for them to be over and to know why they happened in the first place. Next, we need to know what to do with these trials when they come (and they will most certainly come). Fourth, we have all wondered it, can trials be refused? Are God's purposes really being fulfilled in the midst of this trying time? And lastly, God reveals Himself to us through these trials. . . and sometimes, they just don't ever end. Why doesn't this trial go away?<BR><br> God refines us. Often in so many ways that we can't even see. Should we just try to weather the storm? Or is there something greater in God's vision for these difficulties?</p><p>God told us to expect trials—don't be surprised when they come (they are on purpose). Grow when they come. Find hope when they come.<BR>  </p></DIV>