Some might say well couldn't he have just given you the blessing without the suffering? The answer is yes but if he blesses you eternally after you have suffered for a lifetime then that blessing means so much more than if you have always had it good.
I see this in my life because God could have put me in a family where we have everything and life is as good as it gets but he wanted to give me the best he had and that meant enduring a life of poverty and severe illness. And I thank him for blessing me with knowing true pain and suffering so I could know true joy and happiness.
This is coming from someone who is struggling with many things as well, but who has also experience a lot of freedom. Throughout my life I’ve discovered that God can use suffering to bring you into repentance. Like a pastor said, “if you only seek God when you are in trouble, He will love you enough to keep you in trouble so you don’t get lost”.
There are many reasons why we can be going through a painful situation; a test, a curse, an open door, sin,etc. The important thing is to identify what it is to be able to apply the right solution. For example, a counselor I know says that in thanksgiving to sit down and take a look at your family. How are they? What problems run in your family, what diseases? Maybe there's a family curse and you think it’s God’s blessing, so you don’t do anything when the right solution is break that curse with the authority the Lord gave you so the next generation doesn't suffer the same.
Also, something I keep in mind is, when I go to Heaven and present myself in front of the Father, what will be my first thought? 90% of people tell me they look back and wonder if they did good. But then I ask, who is your Savior? Jesus or your works? The same goes with pain, work, kids etc. If you allow pain to be your savior that is a dangerous thing. Go through pain, but also seek Jesus help, He is your Savior.
Jesus said He came to break the works of the devil, pain is not part of Heaven (do Your will on earth as it is in Heaven). Are we going to suffer pain, yes. Is there hope and restoration? Yes.
Just thought I should mention it. I grew up in a household that believed everything that happens (good or bad) is God's will. As I grew in the Lord He taught me many lies I believed and how I was serving my life on a silver platter to the devil. He showed me what He died for. He says the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came to give us life. Life is a substance, like is something that we can literally can obtain and it is ours, He is just preparing us to receive it, but you don’t give something valuable to someone who has a pauper mentality. The Bible says we are a chosen nation, royal priesthood and we must learn how our Father, the King, is and thinks. His identity us our identity. We were made in His image. Jesus is the image of the Father, we are supposed to be the image of Jesus. Study Jesus and you’ll understand what I mean. We are more powerful than we think and the Father and even creation is awaiting for a generation to wake up and realize it.