The Bible Dictionary speaks of Joseph of Egypt as being the prime example of "the discipline of misfortune."  That phrase captures my attention.

Misfortunes and difficult things come to all of us.  I have long maintained that our greatest afflictions are intended to become our greatest blessings if handled properly.  Said just a little differently that principle becomes "our greatest blessings often come from our greatest afflictions."

Lehi said it best:  Speaking of the Lord, he said that "he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain."  (2 Nephi 2:2).

I have added to that scripture.  I say that "he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain, if we resist the urge to complain."  Not complaining and not murmuring about our misfortunes is key.

Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers.  Such perfidy is unimaginable.  Equally unimaginable is the result.  Joseph had every right to complain.  He had ample opportunity to say, "Wo is me," and to give up.  He suffered misfortune after misfortune.  He couldn't have known that the Lord was orchestrating the misfortune.  The Lord had a grand plan, and was using Joseph to save a family and the whole house of Israel.

Joseph went from being his father's best son to being a slave.  He became the best slave, and was given charge over all that Potiphar had.

Through another act of perfidy Joseph became a prisoner.  He became the best prisoner, and was put in charge of all the other prisoners.  He didn't sit around murmuring and complaining.  I imagine him being cheerful, and working to cheer his fellows.

Joseph went from being best prisoner to becoming second in power in the land of Egypt.  That is the position in which the Lord had intended to place him from the beginning.  He didn't know that.  While sitting in his dank dungeon did the Lord speak to him like He did to Joseph's namesake many centuries and millennia later?  Joseph Smith was also in a dank dungeon when the Lord said to him, "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high, thou shalt triumph over all thy foes."  (D&C 121:7-8).

That is God's intent for all of us.  He intends to "exalt us on high."  His intent is not to make us second in command in Egypt, but something infinitely greater.

If this is to happen, we need to "endure it well."  As we endure our afflictions we need to acquire the patience of Job, the diligence and cheerfulness of Joseph, and the persistence and faithfulness of Nephi.  They suffered misfortunes far beyond what any of us will experience.  They didn't murmur, and they all learned magnificent lessons that could not have been learned in any other way.  This is the discipline of misfortune.  Their greatest blessings came from their afflictions.

Elder John B. Dickson, in general conference in 1992, told of losing his right arm to cancer just before he was to serve his mission in Mexico.  He wasn't expected to live; but a priesthood blessing promised him that he'd fulfill his mission, that he would have a family and be able to serve the Lord all his days.  He said, "I want you to know that having one arm for nearly thirty years has been one of the greatest blessings of my life."  (The Ensign, November 1992, 45).

As a general authority Elder Dickson visited the MTC while one of my sons was there.  He challenged the elders that were present to a tie-tying contest.  A number of them joined him at the podium, the contest was held, and he won!  The elders each had two good arms.  He accomplished it using his left arm and his mouth.

I was told of a church leader who, in his travels, would ask local leaders, "Have you ever had an Abraham experience which was so difficult that the only thing you could do to get through it was to rely on the Lord?"

The young elders quorum presidents who were asked that question would reply, "No, the Lord has been good to us."  The old high priests, however, always had a story to tell.

I, myself, have had two such experiences.  One was the extreme, long-lasting depression that I suffered before I found the Church.  What I didn't know was that my depression was the tool the Lord was using to bring me to the gospel and its peace.  The depression became so severe that I, a second-year, honors college student, was unable to open a book.  I had to quit school.  Interestingly, it was a book that brought me out of my dilemma.  I was given a Book of Mormon.  As I read it, light came pouring into my darkened mind.  The darkness and depression just melted away.  Light, peace, and purpose took their place.  I was healed.  I was happy.  I was amazed.  I was ever so grateful.  I knew from whence my blessing came.  I had come to know Jesus Christ.  My great affliction had become an unimaginable blessing.

Many years later while serving in the stake presidency, over a several-day period, I suddenly lost the ability to walk.  I was pretty much confined to the couch.  My legs didn't work.  I had rheumatoid arthritis.  I couldn't care for my ranch.  I leased it out, and sold my wonderful herd of cows.  How that hurt!  Selling my cows hurt more than my legs did.

I tried to not murmur, but I did cry once.  I studied how people bent their knees as they walked, and thought that if I could just get outside and exercise, maybe I could duplicate what I saw them doing.  I hobbled out onto the front porch.  There was a 3-inch step down from the porch to the sidewalk.  I hovered over that precipice for several minutes trying to get up the courage to take the plunge.

I couldn't do it.  I went back to my couch and cried.

But the Lord had other plans for me.  I was too small an operator for the ranch to have continued to maintain us through the coming decades.  I sold our cows at the market high.  Cattle prices then took a several-year's-long plunge during which we would have probably lost our place.

We used the proceeds from the cattle sale to purchase a shop, and set our oldest son up in a cabinet-making business.  He was an expert wood worker.  I became his partner.  He taught me woodworking.  It became one of the joys of my life.

That son was nearing 30 years old, and hadn't found his wife.  He was miserable.  I said, "The only way this kid is going to be married is if the girl comes into the shop and proposes to him."

That's almost exactly what happened.  Once a month we fasted and prayed for him.  My arthritis gave us the shop, and the shop was the answer to our prayers and gave us his wife.  She is a treasure.  They have four children and have been supremely happy together now for over 20 years.

Number two son was a senior in high school when my rheumatoid arthritis hit.  Several years before that he would get up every morning and shout to the world, "I hate school!"  Before we sold the cattle and leased the place out, he had to take over the care of the ranch.  He was a whirlwind of activity, and got more done than if I'd been up and around.  He learned about his strengths and capabilities.  This kid who hated school stayed in school for many more years and became a doctor of veterinary medicine.

That son's education, number one son's marriage, and the facts that we are debt-free and still live on our place are all attributable to that horrible, 6-month bout with rheumatoid arthritis.  It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I'd do it all again now that I can see what the Lord had planned for us.  We endured, the Lord delivered the blessings; and through faith, fasting, and two priesthood blessings the rheumatoid arthritis disappeared.

Like Elder Dickson I can now say that being in pain and not being able to walk for six months has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.

The discipline of misfortune.

A discipline is "training that corrects, molds, or perfects" faculties or character.  Misfortunes are a wonderful way--maybe even the best and most effective way--for lessons to be taught.  It's probably not possible to be grateful for a misfortune or an affliction when we're in the midst of it, but if handled properly, we're most often grateful when we see the result.

The key is to endure it well.  That is done by not murmuring.

So when your afflictions come, please know that all is well.  God is at work.  He hasn't forgotten you.  He is trying to discipline you.  He wants to teach you something you might never learn otherwise.  He has a giant blessing planned for you if you endure it well.