Favored Though Afflicted -- 1 Nephi 1:1

I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

In the very first verse of the Book of Mormon, Nephi gives us a key insight into his faith. He had "seen many afflictions in the course of [his] days." Despite those afflictions, however, Nephi viewed himself as "having been highly favored of the Lord in all [his] days." Even on those many days when he was afflicted, he still understood that he was favored of the Lord. Indeed, he might have understood that those afflictions were themselves blessings and signs of the Lord's favor. He understood well what would be written centuries later and on the other side of the world, in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" (Heb. 12:5-7).

It is the best block in the quarry that the great sculptor chooses to be chiseled and hammered into his masterpiece. It is the most valuable rough stone that the jeweler selects to be ground and polished into a priceless gem. And it is the most beautiful rose bush that the gardener prunes and trims to produce the prize blossom. Even so, it was one of the most noble souls, Nephi, that the Lord molded through affliction into a great prophet, one with "a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God." A knowledge that surely would not have come without Nephi's enduring well the afflictions that came to him.

So when we are dealing with the afflictions of life, let us trust that we, too, are being favored of the Lord and being polished to become the eternal masterpiece that He knows we can become.

John Newton, who was the captain of a slave ship before he converted to Christianity and became a minister in England, gave us the famous hymns, "Amazing Grace" and "Lead Kindly Light." He also authored the following verses:

Afflictions do not come alone,
A voice attends the rod;
By both He to His saints is known,
A Father and a God!

Let not My children slight the stroke
I for chastisement send;
Nor faint beneath My kind rebuke,
For still I am their Friend.

The wicked I perhaps may leave
Awhile, and not reprove;
But all the children I receive
I scourge, because I love.

If therefore you were left without
This needful discipline;
You might, with cause, admit a doubt,
If you, indeed, were Mine.

Shall earthly parents then expect
Their children to submit?
And wilt not you, when I correct,
Be humbled at My feet?

To please themselves they oft chastise,
And put their sons to pain;
But you are precious in My eyes,
And shall not smart in vain.

I see your hearts, at present, filled
With grief, and deep distress;
But soon these bitter seeds shall yield
The fruits of righteousness.

Break through the clouds, dear Lord, and shine!
Let us perceive Thee nigh!
And to each mourning child of Thine
These gracious words apply.

-- From Ol­ney Hymns (Lon­don: W. Ol­i­ver, 1779), num­ber 135.

(You can listen to the tune by clicking here: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/f/f/afflictions.htm.)