What do you do when the pressure of life seems greater than you can bear? Journeys through a valley are inevitable and powerful, but God does not waste them. The trials of life can be times of discovering about Him. In our helplessness, we discover His Almighty power to sustain us. In our despair, God invites us to experience His peace and promises. In our pain, He becomes our comforter and protector. In our hopelessness, He lifts our eyes to see His sovereignty and goodness. Other discoveries we make in severe crises have to do with ourselves.
Terrible times test our faith, and reveal our true character. When a crisis first hits, most of us respond with alarm but at that point we can take one of two very different paths: the way of fear or the way of faith. If our relationship with God is weak, fear may cause us to panic, seek ungodly counsel, blame people or God for the problems, or try to find a way out on our own. If our faith is strong, we move from alarm to trust by seeking the Lord through prayer and His Word. In this way, our endurance and confidence in the Lord is strengthened. Every adversity God allows in our life is designed to bring us to spiritual maturity, but not to devastate us. When we yield to God in the midst of a crisis, He enables us to trust and wait on Him with patience and hope. — Psalm 27:3