Steering the Ship

Diamonds in the Dust. J.E. Tada

Someone once said that Satan may power the ship of calamity, but God steers it  to serve His own purpose....we have His promise [of] Rom 8.28.
The Lord is never forced into a corner. The Lord is never backed into a wall. "Suffering is...an opportunity to experience evil and change it into good." Saul Bellow

It has always bothered me if those about me say God has sent whatever trial or hardship. While I think that He allows it---from what I understand in my Bible reading---I would be more inclined to think the opening sentence is true. God steers the "calamity" boat. 
My horrific experience with anxiety was something I would never wish upon anyone. I could not understand why God was letting me face something so impossible---a veritable Mt. Everest; me without oxygen tanks. I learned then, with great assurance, that God was my oxygen. Without Him no battle can be won, no fight ever finished. 
After this battle was mainly overcome, I asked myself why it happened, what was the point...
As a nurse I found a great use for that terror which had enveloped my mind, body and (nearly) soul. I was able to tread in waters many nurses fear. Speaking to patients about their own terrors, tips on handling the fears of life. 
A reason for my suffering was found.

Think of the crucifixion. A harsh "calamity" indeed for Jesus, something we will never face, nor can understand, since He faced the punishment for all of our sins and was shunned from God's presence. Yet that calamity, powered by Satan through Judas Iscariot, was steered to a glorious finish by God. Consider:

Acts 2: ²³ This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,^[d] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. ²⁴ But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

 Because of His holiness, the "calamity" that was planned was not able to truly happen. God was not defeated due to fact that death could not claim Him. (And for the reason He is God of all)
There is a reason for all of our sufferings. We may not see it until we reach Paradise. Whether the suffering changes us to better us for service to God, or whether it changes us so we can help our brothers, there is a reason. Stand firm with the Captain of Creation...for He alone will guide us safely through our hard times.