Great wisdom in Ross Douthat's April 2014 essay "The Pandemic and the Will of God", subtitled, "The purpose of suffering may be mysterious, but the search for meaning is obligatory" — especially in the observation:

... Because we are not Jesus, it is a very bad idea to walk around telling strangers how their suffering might display the works of God. But as friends, we can participate in others' discernment and pattern-seeking, and we can try to discern purposes in our own life — suffering as punishment, suffering as refinement, suffering as a judgment on a nation or society, suffering as an opportunity, suffering as part of a story not our own. ...

... especially in "suffering as an opportunity"!

(cf Softening into Experience (2012-11-12), Mindfulness for Beginners (2013-07-18), Four Mantras (2014-06-26), Buddhism and Suffering (2015-01-18), Edgeless Sea of Compassion (2015-10-10), Mantra - Don't Be the Fixer (2017-01-19), Mantra - Forgiven (2016-08-02), ...) - ^z - 2020-04-28