Afflictions - Blessings in disguise?

So as you readers may have noticed, I have not posted a new post in almost over a year.  Well, something Elder Ballard said in the Priesthood session of Conference struck me right between the eyes.  He asked if us to consider for a moment as if we were having a personal interview with him and the first question he asked us was do we search the scriptures regularly.  I had to answer that I do not.  Ever since I stopped doing this blog, I stopped being regular about my scripture reading.  What is sad about that statement, is that for the past six months, I have been so sick with my physical health that I have been unable to work, so you would think that this would be the time I would spend the most time reading the scriptures and doing the most for my spiritual health!  So, I took his point to heart and while I was reading 1 Nephi 1 this morning something struck me and I decided to talk about it.

In the first verse of 1 Nephi 1 Nephi states that he has seen much affliction in his life.  For those of us familiar with his life, we know this is both true, and an understatement.  But I got to thinking about that word, affliction due to the last six months in my own life and my eyes wandered down to the footnotes.  To my great surprise, after a Topical Guide reference for affliction, there was a reference for Blessings and Gifts from God!
  
Needless to say this kind of blew my mind and caused a few minutes of reflection and thinking on my part.  It also brought to mind a blessing given to me at the beginning of my health challenge given to me on Thanksgiving day last year by my father in law that said in part that I should not look upon my health challenge as a trial, that anything that brings me closer to Heavenly Father is a blessing.  So it led to this though, I know that God gives us trials to help us grow and that some trials are due to our own mistakes and choices we make.  But perhaps afflictions, which by the very definition of the word carries a negative connotation, should be thought of in a more positive light and as a chance to grow also.  I know that it has given me much to think on for myself and the way I view my health challenge moving forward.  Until tomorrow.