Tim Keller writes:
According to all branches of Christian theology, the ultimate purpose of life is to glorify God. That means that the first—but perhaps hardest to grasp—purpose for our suffering is the glory of God.
(Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, Chapter 7)
Implicitly or explicitly, many Christians act as though one or more things (not giving glory to God) are the ultimate purpose(s) for their lives: wealth, comfort, happiness, fame, even spiritual gifts. These other priorities are pressed into our world view because they pervade the culture around us.
…In 1 Peter 1:6-7, the apostle explains why his readers are “suffering grief in all kinds of trials.” “These have come.” he writes, “so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Our sufferings, if handled properly, bring the Lord glory.
This is a difficult truth for some to accept.
Many of the most popular churches today teach that God will make you happy, healthy, and prosperous, that he is there for your personal benefit. If we tacitly accept that view of things, we may find it offensive to hear someone say that tragedies and evil can honor and glorify God.
If we believe our purpose is to enjoy a “good” life, material wealth, health, and prosperity, we will come to see God as existing in order to supply those things for us. Suffering and pain have no useful place in such a mindset. To suggest that God would cause his children to suffer, and that suffering is actually an instrument God uses to refine his people’s character and to bring glory to himself — these statements are abhorrent to the one who adheres to a theology of health, wealth, prosperity, and blessing.