Deuteronomy 8:2 (NIV) Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
Psalm 66:10 (NIV) For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.
2 Thessalonians 1:4 (NIV) Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties. —Charles H. Spurgeon, 19th century English pastor.
Today's Best Illustrations – Volume 5, (Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today, 1997), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "AFFLICTIONS".
