"It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will.  His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature."

I'd like to focus on three words out of all that: "it pleased God". 

Sometimes when we're struggling in life (or struggling with our faith), we forget that the only reason we even know of God's existence is because it pleases Him.  Why does it please Him?  Because God wants us to be happy, and it's through Him that we find happiness.

The element of kindness and charity here is sometimes ignored.  God really wants us to find our way to Him.  He gives us what we need to do it.  Sometimes that just means a little extra grace here and there to help us in our struggles (and often, it's just barely enough).  Sometimes it means fantastic and wondrous miracles.

Think of the time Jesus spent on earth.  Most of His life as a rabbi was spent healing the sick.  This wasn't to help Him in public relations.  The miracles weren't a publicity stunt.  They were done out of compassion for the suffering.

We have to keep this in mind as we make our journey through life.  It's easy to forget.

When we go through difficult times, we might feel alone and far away from God.  And I won't be one of the optimists who say that somewhere a door is opening.  But I will say that if you are suffering, it is the will of God that you bear that cross.  

Jesus himself did not benefit from His crucifixion.  There was no window opening while his door to life was shut.  But while He hung from that cross, and asked the Father why He has abandoned Him, Jesus was closer to God than ever.  He was in the process of saving the human race.  And He was fulfilling God's will.

Sometimes our troubles won't make sense.  But we don't know who we're helping by offering it up to God.  We might be helping some poor soul halfway around the world who is struggling with drug addiction.  We might be helping our neighbor who is struggling with something we aren't aware of.  We might just be going through a training exercise to strengthen our own faith.

The big point is to remember that our pain isn't what pleases God.  But whatever you accomplish through that pain DOES please God.  And God will choose the time and place to deliver us from this pain.  We just have to continue to do his will until then.  And continue to pray, even if we're praying for deliverance.