"Trying" can be thought of as "testing". For example: try my patience -> test my patience Native speakers use both terms. When a moment is trying, it's testing your ability to cope, to find a solution, to find a way forward. You might also see "tried and true". This is similar: a method of doing something has been tested repeatedly (tried by many people at many different times) found to be effective. So the method was tried (tested), if was successful, so it's a true (good) way forward.