The afflictions the Lord sends on His people

(J. C. Philpot, "The Promise of God to His Afflicted Church")

"You have afflicted me with all Your waves." Psalm 88:7

Jesus was a man of sufferings--a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. And His people, in their
measure, must have the same. The Lord has
appointed it should be so. He has chosen His Zion
in the furnace of affliction. There is no escape.

The afflictions the Lord sends on His people are
of varied kinds. The Lord sees necessary to send
afflictions suitable to the case, state and condition
of each. What might be an affliction to one might
not be so to another. Each must carry his own
affliction. Each must bear his own load, and each
endure his own appointed lot.

So a wise God sees exactly what affliction to
lay on each and all . . .
  when it shall come,
  where it shall come,
  why it shall come,
  how it shall come,
  how it shall work,
  what it shall work,
  how long it shall last,
  when it shall be put on,
  and when taken off. 

In these matters the Lord acts as a sovereign.

We did not choose of what parents we would
be born, nor our situation in life; neither had
we any choice of our stature or skin color.

Likewise, the Lord appointed all our afflictions
for us--and when He puts them on, no human
arm can take them off!

He knows our constitution and troubles--our
characteristics and the minutest things relating
to our situation in life. The Lord knows all our
concerns. Therefore He lays on each individual
the very affliction He sees that individual needs;
no greater, no less--exactly the very affliction
which shall bring about the very appointed purpose
intended by God to be brought about, which shall
be for the soul's good and God's own glory.