Trials and Blessings

Can trials be blessings?? A question that we all hope the answer to is always a definite and resounding YES! Although at the time it may be hard to see, I believe trials do have a purpose and that they can be blessings, if we persevere and move forward with faith. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, thrown into a pit, then sold as a slave. But it didn't end there. The next thirteen years he spent working as a slave for Potiphar and in jail. He was falsely accused and unjustly imprisoned. I don't know if Joseph felt he was being blessed during these periods of adversity, but seeing the big picture of his story can help. Was this a blessing? If Joseph had not been sold by his brothers and had not been falsely accused he could not have had the Spirit with him to interpret the dream of the butler (cause they wouldn't have met), who then referred Pharaoh to Joseph which allowed Joseph to become second in command in all of Egypt and work out a plan to save the whole nation from famine, including the very brothers who betrayed him. Does this story sound familiar? I don't mean just from Genesis or Broadway even, for it is found in the New Testament as well. Our Savior was betrayed, accused, unjustly sentenced, sold at the price of a slave all so that He, our Brother, could work out the plan by which we are saved. Joseph, like the Savior, had to descend below all things to be in a position to save. Well, what does this have to do with us? The Savior has already wrought out a perfect atonement to save us all...hasn't He? Yes, He has. But this illustrates that there is a purpose in trials and shows how trials can be blessings if we remain faithful. During class today, a young woman with long brown hair, sitting near the back, had her face turn red, and it seemed as though tears welled up in her eyes. Something from the lesson had touched her. After class I asked her about it. She then recounted a story of her grandfather. It echoed events from Joseph's experience and brought her mind to reflect on it. Her grandfather was accused of molesting a neighbor girl and imprisoned for it, despite constantly pleading innocence. His Stake President prayed earnestly to know about this man and he received an answer. The grandfather was innocent, he had been unjustly imprisoned. But that was not all in the revelation. He was told that the man had a mission to fulfill. After two years in prison her grandfather was found innocent and released, but not before converting a handful of inmates to the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel. His trial put him in a position to bless others. If he had been angry and chose to curse God for this injustice, he would not have been in tune to preach the Gospel. He was faithful even in the face of bitter adversity. I testify that the scriptures are real! They are for us today and they teach us that if we are faithful even the hardest of trials can turn out to be blessings.