Why does God permit hardships?

There are difficulties that weigh heavily and questions that are not resolved with an easy phrase. Faith does not require pretending that everything hurts less. Yet God can draw good even out of what seems dark. He does not will evil as such, but he can turn a wound, a period of waiting, or a trial into a path of growth. Pain is not good in itself, and it is never helpful to answer with easy phrases. But neither does it have to close off all possibility of growth, companionship, and hope.