Faith is forged in the midst of trials. It has to be. Because faith is the 'assurance of things hoped for, the certainty of things not seen'. Faith is not faith until it has been put to the test. There's a saying that I came across by the philosopher Kierkegaard that has, in the last little while, become a revelation of sensibility and wisdom to me.
Faith is like that, too.
It is not fully understood until we have hindsight - and knowledge to see how the trials have hidden within them incredible gems of truth and wisdom, and yes even joy. When trials come our way, we immediately step into the self-reliance mode. We'll do what we can to handle what's tossed at us. We try valiantly. Sometimes we manage to carry ourselves through, though maybe a little worse for the wear.