Wherefore hast Thou afflicted Thy servant? Numbers 11:11
"OUR heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles to try our faith. 
*If our faith be worth anything, it will stand the test.
---Gilt is afraid of fire, but gold is not: the paste
gem dreads to be touched by the diamond, but the true jewel fears no
test.
It is a poor faith which can only trust God when friends are true,
the body full of health, and the business profitable;
---but that is true
faith which holds by the Lord's faithfulness
when friends are gone,
when
the body is sick,
when spirits are depressed,
and the light of our
Father's countenance is hidden.
A faith which can say, in the direst
trouble,
"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him," (Job 13:15)
is heaven-born
faith.
The Lord afflicts His servants to glorify Himself, for He
is greatly glorified in the graces of His people, which are His own
handiwork. ....let us muse upon it all day long."
Charles Spurgeon