Jeremiah 9 shows just how much God cares for His people, and the anguish He feels when they go astray, “Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! … For they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men”. Later on God says “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do?”
God shows the same care and concern for us. He is refining and testing our character, so that we might develop to be more like Him. “let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord”.