Have you ever had one of those seasons where it feels like one hard thing comes right after another? I’ve had a few of those. And somewhere along the way, I started trying to change the way I talk about them. Instead of calling them trials, I started to call them “opportunities to trust God.”

It doesn’t make the hard thing less hard. It doesn’t mean I don’t get worried, frustrated, or wish God would just fix it already. But it does change the question I’m asking. Instead of, “God, why is this happening?” I can begin to ask, “God, how can I trust You in this?”

Because every difficult season gives us an opportunity to discover something about God that we might never learn when life is easy. We learn that He really does provide. That His peace really can show up in the middle of uncertainty. That He really is faithful, even when we don’t know how the story ends.

James 1 reminds us that the testing of our faith produces perseverance. Maybe that’s because faith grows every time we have to actually use it.

So, if you’re in a season with more “opportunities to trust God” than you would have chosen for yourself, keep going. Every time you choose to trust Him again, your roots are growing a little deeper.

And someday, you may look back and realize the season that tested your faith was also the season that strengthened it.