"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.
