God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
God does not so much enter a story that is already under progress. He is the one that is always writing the story and moving the players according to His sovereign will.
Joy in God in the midst of suffering makes the worth of God – the all-satisfying glory of God – shine more brightly than it would through our joy at any other time. Sunshine happiness signals the value of sunshine. But happiness in suffering signals the value of God. Suffering and hardship joyfully accepted in the path of obedience to Christ show the supremacy of Christ more than all our faithfulness in fair day.