Many times when we experience tribulation in the world we try to make sense of it with our own reasoning.  We say things like God is testing my faith.  Or God has brought these hard times to me in order to teach me something.  Or God has brought these hard times to me in order to purge some sins from my life.  

And then we sound a little like Job.  But, remember at the end of Job's letter he repented from everything he said and realized what he said did not come from a direct knowledge of God but it came from having heard things about God.  

If this is what we believe about God and the way He is with us it will act as a stumbling block to us being able to rest in His bosom as our Father.  It will act as a stumbling block to our hearts going to rest in His integrity towards us.  It will act as a hindrance to us being able to trust Him with our lives.  If this is what we believe about God and the way He is with us it will work in our hearts to destroy the Father/child relationship we have been created to have with God.  

I mean if I thought my dad was testing me all the time.  Or that he was bringing pain and suffering to me in order to teach me things.  Or that He could stop painful things from happening to me but he allowed them to happen to teach me things.  I would never feel at rest around Him.  I would never be able to trust in His goodness towards me.  I would never feel safe or relaxed in His presence.  Because after all who knows when the next test is coming.  Who knows when He is testing me.  He may be testing me right now and I don't even know it.  I would always have to watch my back around Him.  Sleep with one eye open so to speak.  

No one wants to experience pain and suffering.  We even go out of our way to avoid it.  If we are able to pinpoint something as the source or the contributing factor to our pain and suffering we will do everything we can to avoid it. 

Talk about result if I believe dad is source of pain and suffering

What do you think the result will be if I believe my dad is the source of the pain and suffering in my life?  Will I be able to trust him with my life?  Do you think I will want to be around him?  No! My heart will never be able to trust Him because my heart will identify Him not as the one who is my savior but the one who is the cause of my hurt.  I will never want to be around Him.  I will never come to Him.  In fact I will try to avoid Him and stay away from Him at all costs.

We look at the physical spankings our earthly Father's gave to us and we equate that thinking carnally to God.  As if God gives us spankings through hard times to discipline us.  

If there is such a thing as God spanking us to teach us things it must be understood spiritually.  Meaning that the chastisement of God is towards what we believe in our hearts.  

We don't have to wonder what this chastisement can be or what it looks like.  God chastises us through the good news of what He has said and done in Jesus to save us from death and give us life.  

God chastises us with the good news.  Jesus is the rod of God, and God did not spare us the rod but he disciplined the belief in our hearts with the good news that is Jesus.  

The way a spiritual spanking would look is something like this.  

Mankind believed God had forsaken them because of their sin, and God comes in Jesus and corrects that belief by teaching us that He has never abandoned us but was always working to save us from death & bring us life.  

In the letter to the Hebrews the Hebrews thought God was imputing their sin to them and God gave them a spiritual spanking by telling them He no longer remembers their sin because of the once for all time sacrifice for sin in Jesus.  

It's true you can learn something as you walk with God through hard times but that does not mean God is the cause of them.  Or that He allows them.  It's not like God has implemented a system of bringing you suffering o teach you things.  

Explain Jesus learned obedience through suffering:  not saying suffering made him obedient to God.  It means God's will was for Jesus to be high priest & the only way he could be our high priest is if he tasted our suffering.  So in Jesus suffering our death he fulfilled God's desire for him to be our high priest.

If we have the Son we are always learning of God in good times & bad. We don't need to make God the author of our tribulation or the allower just because we are always growing in wisdom and stature in good times and bad.  

The idea that God brings hard times to us to teach us things or to test us comes from a perverted view of the sovereignty of God.

Where we make God the grand puppet master controlling everything like Zeus in the movie Clash of the Titans.  But, the bible says God gave dominion over the earth and everything on it to man.  The bible says the earth is defiled on account of man bringing sin & death into the world.  Not on account of God.  God is not the author of the tribulation in the world.  He is not the author of the pain and suffering in the world.  Nor does He allow it.  

And He is also not indifferent to it.  God has done something in Jesus to bring protection and salvation from the pain and suffering in the world to everyone who wants it.  

Take verses where it says hard times produce patience & we think hard times is root that brings forth patience & then say God did this.  

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
 Trying of your faith.  The proving forth of the substance and makeup of your faith.
 We can look at verses like this and think that hard times is the root that brings forth patience in us and then say God brings hard times to produce patience in us.  But, there is only one root that can produce the fruit of patience in a person and his name is Jesus.  
 These Verses are not saying that God sends tribulation to produce patience in us or that God brings hard times to us in order to teach us patience.  It is saying that those who have believed on Jesus & have the hope of glory & immortality dwelling in them aren't just able to rejoice in good times but we are able to rejoice in tribulation also.  The reason we can rejoice even in the midst of tribulation is because we know that when we encounter tribulation the faith we have in our hearts; the hope we have of glory & immortality will show itself forth by producing the fruit of patience in us. 

We can rejoice in hard times knowing that when the faith we are of; knowing that when the Spirit that dwells in us encounters hard times it conquers the effect of those hard times in our hearts by producing the fruit of patience in us; and the fruit of joy and peace in us.  

James is saying we can rejoice even in hard times because this faith we are of is more precious than gold and rubies.  And that when this faith is tried and tested by the tribulation in the world it does not fail or make us ashamed for having placed our trust in it.  

These verse are not saying that tribulation produces patience in us. They are not saying that tribulation teaches us to patience.  It's saying that we have a faith in us.  We have a Spirit in us that when it is pressed in upon by the tribulation in the world it overcomes that tribulation and restores our souls to rest, and produces patience, hope, joy, and longsuffering in us.  

Example of squeezing a turnip & what will come out of it .......  

James is saying that faith contains something in it that when it is squeezed patience comes forth from it; joy comes forth from it; rest comes forth from it.  

Jesus said in the world we will have tribulation but be of good cheer because he has overcome the world.  When the faith that was made flesh in Jesus dwells in a persons heart it overcomes the tribulation in the earth by casting fear out of their hearts and shedding abroad the love of God.   

Explain Adam not a test but a warning:

We look at the account with Adam in the beginning of Genesis and think God was testing Adam.....

In the beginning of Genesis we see God tell Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and we interpret it to mean that God was testing Adam to see if He would be obedient.  We have thought of it as if God was testing Adam to see if Adam would listen to Him.  

It's like we think God was playing some game with Adam's life in order to amuse Himself and see if he would fail or not.  Like Adam was some sort of lab rat & God wanted to see what He would do.  

But, what really happened there is that God was warning Adam about something that could hurt him.  God warned Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, not because He was testing Adam.  But, because He loved Adam and He did not want Adam to die. God warned Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because He knew the tree could bring Adam death, and pain, and suffering.  God was not testing Adam.  He was trying to preserve Adam's life from death, and pain, and suffering.  

Example of me as little boy and parents warning me not to do things that could hurt me.  

When I was growing up my parents told me not to run out in the street. They told me things like not to play with fire or get too close to the fire.  
What was the purpose of them saying these things to me?  Was it to test me to see if I would obey them or not?  Was it to test me to see if I would listen to them or not.  Or to see if I would trust what they said or not?  Or was it to protect me from something that could harm my life by warning me about it?  

They told me those things not to test me but to protect me from harm.  
They didn't think so little of my life that they thought to play games with my life for their amusement and to see how I would fare.  They were not playing games with my life to see if I would listen to them or not.  My life was much too valuable to them to want to test me to see if I would fail or not.  My life was much too valuable for them to be playing games with it.  

Your life is much too valuable to God for Him to be playing games with your life.  

God doesn't test you to see if you will listen to Him or trust Him or not. He comes to prove His trustworthiness to you.  God isn't interested in you proving yourself to Him.  He is interested in proving Himself to you! And the reason He wants to prove Himself to you is so that you will be His friend.  Glory to God!

Well what about Abraham?  Didn't God test Abraham?

When we think of verses like this we have read them topically and concluded God was testing Abraham to see if Abraham would listen to Him.  When we interpret scriptures like this we want to consider the whole counsel of God.  We want to consider everything that has been revealed.  

The apostle James says in  James 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

James says let no man say when he is tested that he is tested by God. Let no man say when He is tempted that He is tempted by God.  

God cannot tempt people to do evil.  And yet we say God tempted Abraham as if God put good and evil before Abraham to see what he would do it.  

I like what Peggy said.  Why would God need to test someone when He already knows what they are going to do anyway.  

When we interpret Genesis 22:1-2 we need to consider what James said

Gen 22:1  And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
Gen 22:2  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
 
I mean if I was all the time testing my wife to see if she would be faithful to me by tempting her to cheat on me, and she found out do you think she would ever trust me?  
 
Tempt:  BDB:  to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test.  
 
The word tempt can mean to test, or try.  But, it also means to prove. And in light of one of the meanings being to prove it gives us a different understanding of what it means to test and try something.
 
To try something or to test something doesn't only speak of a test I put in front of someone to see if they will pass.  It doesn't just speak of trying to determine if something is there or not.  It can also speak of the proving of something.  It speaks of the proving forth of something that is already there.  It speaks of demonstrating the substance and the makeup of something that is already there, and that you know is already there.  
 
When you prove something you want to reveal the truth about something.  You want to show something for what it is.  You want to demonstrate the substance; the makeup; the characteristics of something.  You want to put something on display so it can be clearly seen.
 
Example of an experiment:  let's say a friend and I have been researching something.  And through that research we have come to the knowledge of a truth.  Now if we want to prove or to demonstrate this truth we are both already persuaded of we can set up an experiment in order to prove or to demonstrate the truth we are already persuaded of.  We aren't setting up the experiment to see what the outcome will be.  We are setting up the experiment because we already know what the outcome will be.  And the reason we set up the experiment is to prove this truth, and demonstrate its makeup to others.  

When we think of the account with Abraham we just assumed God was testing his faith.  In the sense that God was giving him a test to see if he would pass or fail.  

But, God saw the faith that was in Abraham's heart & He knew what this faith would produce in Abraham.  So for the sake of all who would come after Abraham God proved the faith in Abraham's heart.  He put the faith that was in Abraham's heart on display for all to see what this faith was and what this faith would do.  

God was not testing Abraham to see if he would obey.  God was revealing the faith that was already in Abraham's heart.  

He was proving the faith that was already in Abraham's heart.  And that this faith does not disappoint; it does not make those who have believed on it ashamed.  It does not leave them barren.  It does not leave them falling short or missing the mark.  

The point is not what Abraham did.  The point is the faith that was in Abraham's heart that said his ability to be the Father of many nations and exceedingly fruitful was not of him and his strength to preserve Isaac's life.  But, it was of God and His grace and strength.  And what that faith is full of power to do.

This is why Abraham said later in genesis 22 when Isaac asked where is the sacrifice God will provide Himself as a sacrifice.  And this is why the author of Hebrews said that through faith Abraham concluded that even should Isaac die God could raise him from the dead.  

Out of the heart the mouth will speak

James said that Abraham was justified on the mount.  Justified means to be declared to be as you ought to be.  God called Abraham the Father of many nations.  So for Abraham to be declared to be as he ought to be; for Abraham to be justified he would have to appear as the father of many nations.  

You know it wasn't in Abraham obeying an order to sacrifice Isaac that could make him the father of many nations.  It was what Abraham believed in his heart that God would provide himself as a sacrifice to preserve isaac's life, and that even should Isaac die God would preserve his life by raising him from the dead that made him the father of many nations.  

He could only be the father of many nations through faith dwelling in his heart because he could only be the father of the Gentiles through being the father of the faith that would later be made manifest in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  

God was not testing Abraham.  He was proving His faith was full of power to cause Abraham to appear as the Father of many nations.  He was proving to the world that His faith was full of power to justify.  

In Abraham God proved the faith that was in Abrahams heart.  He proved what it was & what it does.

God wanted to put His faith to the test.  He wanted to prove His faith for all to see.  He wanted to prove to the world that His faith is full of power to justify the ungodly.  He wanted to prove; He wanted to demonstrate what His faith produces.  

We see the same thing in Jesus.  God did not test Jesus.  But, He proved Jesus.  He proved that Jesus was the Son of God in the resurrection.  He proved the faith that was in Jesus' heart.  He proved the substance of His faith, and that this faith was full of power to accomplish that which was promised.  

We will even see this same thing in all those who have believed on Jesus.  

In the day Jesus returns God will prove all those who have believed on Jesus when He raises them up unto glory and immortality and reveals them to be the Sons of God.  He will prove that His faith does not return unto Him void but that it is full of power to accomplish that which He promised.  

So then why do we experience hard times in the earth if it's not God causing them?  

Jesus said in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer because He has overcome the world.  

Jesus didn't say in your relationship with God you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer God is testing your faith, and bringing you pain and suffering to teach you things.  He said in the world you will have tribulation.  

God is not the author of the tribulation in the world.  

Jesus said a house divided against itself cannot stand.  God cannot be the one who causes us to overcome the tribulation & the one who brings the tribulation.  

By one man Adam death entered the world & creation was corrupted by sin and death.  Whatever tribulation we may encounter in the world is a result of the corruption that is in the world through people lusting after life through their own self effort.

Why doesn't God just remove sin and death from creation then?  What is He waiting for?  

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
 
God doesn't desire that any should perish.  The reason he waits to remove sin and death is so that all those who want the gift of glory and immortality can be saved from the second death.  
 
In the day Jesus returns to fulfill the promise and cast death into the lake of fire and redeem all of creation from corruption into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God.  Anyone who does not have the Spirit of the Son dwelling in them will perish.  Not because God will kill them but, because the iniquity dwelling in their heart will serve them with death.  
 
Explain through eyes of period of acceptable year of the Lord where people can return to their inheritance .....
 
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In fact the book of revelation says that when the plagues come upon the people it did not cause them to repent but it caused them to curse God because they thought God was to blame.  When people think that God is bringing them hard times it does not endear them to Him.  In fact it causes them to curse God in their hearts.  When people think God is the cause of their hard times or that He is allowing their hard times when He could stop them it causes them to curse God in their hearts.  It causes them to feel separated from God.  
 
Look up proof; look up evince
 
When it says God proved Abraham He proved that what He said about Abraham was true, and He proved that He was able to cause Abraham to appear as who and what God said he was.   
 
Rom 4:16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, evenGod, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Rom 4:18  Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Rom 4:19  And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
Rom 4:20  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Rom 4:21  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom 4:22  And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Rom 4:23  Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24  But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;