Ups and Downs

I just went through a ridiculously hard experience, along with amazing spiritual growth that followed. And so I am wondering: is the struggle necessary? Is the hard part in balance (or opposition) to the good, and so both come together? Or, at least in this case, was the hard my own doing, because I pushed against the spirit of God? Or maybe the hard is God leading me to a new plateau, where I have a period of exercise in order to grow the strength to stay there? I don’t know. What is your experience?