I believe God has great plans for our lives, but sometimes he knows we need more training.  It is these during these moments that God will put us into some really difficult or challenging situations in our lives where we experience pain, confusion, frustration, sadness or despair.  I believe he wants us to depend on him and realize that he has a purpose for the situation.  While that purpose is probably very unclear to us, it is all part of Gods' plan for our lives.  I believe our response to these situations is to listen for God speaking to us and fully engage life andlet God do his work in our lives.  Trust that when the situation ends, God has worked in our lives for the ultimate purpose of sharing his love, grace, and foregiveness with us and through us.  And that no matter what happens, God can be trusted and glorified in those moments when we are in utter pain.  The pain is real and it hurts, but God will never let us go through it alone and he will never give us more than we can handle.