Challenges and Spiritual Growth

I just want to start by bearing my testimony that I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. No matter how many times I've read it, I seem to discover new things each time. I do not discover those things because I am smart but because the spirit of the Lord is there with me to give me new spiritual insights when I read the word of God. This week as I read Mosiah 21   , verses 15 and 16 made me realize something I had never experienced before. It reads : 14 And they did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions.15 And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage.16 And it came to pass that they began to prosper by degrees in the land, and began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks, and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger. 
By reading the previous chapter, we learn that this people is in bondage and they have just being baptized by Alma and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are persecuted by the Lamanites and are in bondage. They can not even worship their God in public because the Lamanites threatened to kill them. It amaze me so much that it says that the Lord did not see fit to deliver them from the hands of the Lamanites. Why? we might ask? is bondage a good thing? Did the Lord make it happen to punish them? no, on the contrary the Lord did not make it happen. However, he allowed it so that the people of Alma can prosper in the land as verse 16 says. That made me realize that there is ALWAYS something to learn when we are faced with trials, sufferings, and other mortal challenges that we can not control. The Lord will not deliver us until we have learned or have progressed. After all, all that we suffer help us to be more spiritually mature and draw us closer to our Lord. The Lord sent us on this earth to grow physically, intellectually ad spiritually. Can there be growth without challenging experiences? No. I know that the Lord loves each one of us and wants us to progress, that is why he allow us to have challenges so that we can develop attributes that will help us grow. I am looking forward to many more challenges in this life and know that each one of them will be for my own good.