This document discusses how adversity can lead to blessings. It provides biblical examples of people like Job, John Bunyan, Joni Eareckson Tada, and Muhammad who experienced hardship but their response brought honor to God and helped others. Their struggles created opportunities for great blessings. It also suggests tough times can help us see God better, hear God more clearly, and draw closer to God. Rather than wasting sufferings, times of suffering can be opportunities for personal growth.

1. Trusting God
in Hard Times
His Goodness Is Greater Than Our Problems

2. Can We Trust God and
Thank Him In All Things?
Even in the midst of great adversity?

3. We Say We Believe
“Trust in the LORD with all your
heart And do not lean on your own
understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge Him, And He will
make your paths straight…” (Prov.
3:5-6)

4. We Say We Believe
“The steps of a good man are
ordered by the Lord: and He
delights in his way.” (Ps. 37:23)

5. We Say We Believe
“And we know that God causes all
things to work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are
called according to His
purpose.” (Romans 8:28: )

6. We Say We Believe
“Be anxious for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known to
God.” (Phil. 4:6)

7. We Say We Know
“And my ways are far beyond
anything you could imagine.” (Is.
55:8)

8. But Can We Trust Him
When Life Gets Hard?

9. How Is God Good to Us?
When Life Puts Us Back On the Potter’s Wheel?

10. Our Struggles Can Lead to
Great Blessings for Others
Here are Some Examples

11. Job
Job did his best, but life fell apart.
Job didn’t know he was helping God win
a cosmic contest with the devil.
Job’s godly response to his suffering
brought great honor to God in heaven
and in hell.

12. The Jewel Forged in the Jail
Pilgrim's Progress (1678)
was written by John
Bunyan…
while imprisoned
It is regarded as one of
the most significant
works of religious
English literature.

13. JONI EARECKSON TADA
• A diving accident in
1967 left Joni, then 17, a
quadriplegic in a
wheelchair, without the
use of her hands.
• Joni is the Founder of
Joni and Friends
International Disability
Center—an international
advocate for people
with disabilities.

14. Muhammad’s Loss
The World’s Gain

15. The Dead Sea Scrolls
1000 Years Newer ThanAny Other OT manuscript

16. Lt. Matthew Maury
• Lt. Maury’s seagoing
days ended at 33 after
he broke his right leg.
• Thereafter, he devoted
himself to study winds
and currents.
• He is now called the
”Father of Modern
Oceanography and
Naval Meteorology"

17. Andre Crouch
• As a boy, Andre could
not speak without a
severe stutter. He could
only say complete
sentences if he sang
them.
• Seven Grammy Award’s
later, he is often called
"the father of modern
gospel music"

18. Joseph’s Agony
Brought Great Ecstasy to His Family & Clan

19. Thrown into a pit to be killed by his
brothers
Sold into slavery by his brothers
Wrongly accused for resisting sin
Forgotten in prison by a man he
blessed.
Ruled Egypt & saved his family from
the famine!!

20. You meant it for evil
But God Meant It for Good! (Gen. 50:20)

21. “…for my power is made
perfect in weakness."
2 Cor. 12:9
“For when I am weak,
then I am strong.”( 2 Cor. 12:10)

22. Adversity =New
Opportunities
“Some of our most
significant opportunities
will be found in times of
greatest difficulty.”

23. How Do Tough Times Change Us?
A short List

24. We See God Better
Adversity helps us see God’s love & power
more clearly.
“If I’d never had a problem, I’d never know
that God could solve them, I’d never know
what faith in God can do.”~~Andre Crouch
(Thru ItAll)

25. We Hear God Clearer
“God whispers to us in
our pleasures, speaks
in our conscience, but
shouts in our pains: it
is His megaphone to
rouse a deaf
world.” ( CS Lewis)

26. God Draws Closer
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and
saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Ps.
34:18)
Is. 41:10: “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do
not anxiously look about you, for I am your
God.I will strengthen you, surely I will help
you. Surely I will uphold you with My
righteous right hand.’

27. Don’t Waste Your Sufferings
Times of suffering are valuable opportunities
to grow more into the person God wants you
to be now & in eternity.
“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our
outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being
renewed day by day. For momentary, light
affliction is producing for us an eternal weight
of glory far beyond all comparison...”2 Cor.
4:16-17