Great Opportunities Inside Difficulties: Discovering Faith That Works

By Rue Stewart

"Great Opportunities Inside Difficulties: Discovering Faith That Works" is a book about hope. It is about facing and walking through difficult problems and having the willingness and insight to look at each struggle, seeing the equal or much greater benefit inside each challenge.

In this book, you will discover eleven characteristics of a faith that works. Attorney and author Rue Stewart gives a bold, vulnerable, and honest account of five stories from his life involving difficult challenges he faced and overcame.

In the first story, Rue describes a life-changing car accident at 19 involving a serious head injury. He explains how his life slowly unraveled after the accident and discusses becoming a fifth-year sophomore in college on academic probation. He shares his painful journey after the accident with mental illness, addiction, and losing hope while being incarcerated.

Rue speaks about going back to college, graduating with honors, and his difficulties getting into law school and passing the bar exam. He shares in the second story about his struggle trying to do everything himself and eventually choosing to trust God.

In the third story, Rue describes his challenges in dating before meeting his wife. He discusses not being able to stay in a relationship for longer than six months. He explains how fear and insecurities kept him from letting his walls down and allowing other people into his life.

In the fourth story, Rue talks about getting busy with life and losing his priorities and focus at the time of his first job as a lawyer. He shares his very uncomfortable experiences losing his self-respect by forgetting how to take care of himself and put himself first.

Finally, in the fifth story, Rue shares his desire to write this book. He describes his extremely difficult seven-year journey with acceptance, the fear of the stigma of mental illness and shame about things he had done in the past. He explains his excruciating and liberating surrender.

Today, Rue is a successful attorney and has owned his own law firm for more than 10 years. He has been in a loving, healthy, committed relationship with his wife for sixteen years. With the help of God and many others, Rue has been able to successfully manage his mental illness and addiction problems for more than twenty years. Beyond publishing this book, Rue is the host of the "Great Opportunities Inside Difficulties" podcast.

This book is a must read for anyone who has given up hope or feels that they face insurmountable obstacles and don't have the strength or courage to try again. Anyone who thinks they are settling for less or who can't understand why these terrible challenges in their life will not go away, despite their strong faith and prayers, will find help - and hope - in this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rue Stewart
• Release date: Dec 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005680466

Book preview

Great_Opportunities_Cover_Smashwords.jpg

Contents

Author’s Preface

Introduction

Story 1

Losing Hope

Car Accident

Before The Accident

Strange Behavior

Hope

Willingness

Action

Story 2

Belief

Story 3

Courage

Story 4

Visualization

Story 5

Publishing this Book

Acceptance

Humility

Responsibility

Trust

Surrender

Closing

About the Author

Great Opportunities Inside Difficulties

Copyright © 2021 Rue P. Stewart

Smashwords version

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

Published by Freeze Time Media

Special thanks to:

My wife, Irena, for making my life rich and joyful.

The people who helped me complete this book, including Derek, who supported and encouraged me; Monika, for her skill and editing talent; and Di Freeze and Freeze Time Media, my publisher.

The artists at Shutterstock and Unsplash, whose photos brought my book to life, and Lisa Shifren Photography for the cover photo.

Most of all, to God, for my past, my future, the path that has been laid out in front of me, which included me writing this book, and for placing the people above and others in my life. I am profoundly grateful.

I dedicate this book to anyone willing to believe in the oftentimes inconceivable great purpose that lies within even the most difficult of circumstances and in the ego-deflating reality that: we know infinitely little, that a truly loving, unfathomable God loves us all, and that there is a mind-blowing beautiful answer to the questions of Why are we here? and Why did we have to go through everything that we did?

Author’s Preface

I am writing this book in an attempt to give someone hope in the same way I was given hope when I was going through some difficult times in my life. Since I embraced hope, that evening over twenty-six years ago, my world has changed entirely, and I keep finding a faith that works. May you, the reader, find some story or phrase in this book that inspires you to overcome the challenges you are currently facing and to create a new life worth living.

Know that you can.

Introduction

"What if … we had a guarantee that the problem bothering us would be worked out in the most perfect way, and at the best possible time. ...

What if three years from now we'd be grateful for that problem, and its solution.

What if … we had a guarantee that everything that is happening and has happened in our life was meant to be, planned just for us, and in our best interest."

- Melody Beattie

I was in a twelve-step meeting at a community center when I first heard someone read this passage above. These words filled me with hope and a deep sense of purpose. I left the meeting, got in my car, and started driving. Not long after I was driving, I was overcome with strong feelings and began crying. I don't cry often, so this was a strange experience. The first thought I had after I started crying was how beautiful God's love must be … for God to love me so much that there is meaning, purpose, and a pre-orchestrated great benefit in the middle of the most difficult challenges I must walk through in life.

In this book, I will discuss eleven principles of a faith that works. These principles are Hope, Willingness, Action, Belief, Courage, Visualization, Acceptance, Humility, Responsibility, Trust, and Surrender. I have discovered these concepts of faith in having to walk through five difficult challenges in my life. These challenges include losing hope while suffering from a head injury, with mental illness, addiction, and being incarcerated; passing the bar exam to become a lawyer; dating before I met my wife; starting my own law practice; and publishing this book. From walking through these five challenges, I’ve discovered these eleven concepts of faith and the realization that there are great opportunities inside difficult problems.

In the midst of difficulty lies opportunity.

– Albert Einstein

Story 1

Embracing Hope

Losing Hope

"Don’t lose hope.

When the sun goes down, the stars come out."

– B. Crouch

The first difficult challenge I had to walk through in life that showed me that great opportunities exist inside of difficult problems involves me losing hope while suffering from a head injury, with mental illness, addiction, and being incarcerated. To explain this further, I need to tell you a little more about myself.

Car Accident

In the summer of 1987, I was looking forward to the fall and returning for my second year at Towson State University in Maryland.

One evening in August, I got dressed up in a sharp-looking outfit, tan from time at the beach and my summer job, and headed off to attend a party. I wasn’t drinking, but I was looking forward to drinking and having