God Is There

in the

Tough Times

Ed Hindson

Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

1999

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New Testament Version. Coryright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Used by permission.

Verses marked by KJV are taken from the King Jamers Version of the Bible.

Cover by Left Coast Design, Portland, Oregon

Cover photo by David Seed Photography

God is there in the tough times

Copyright 1999 Ed Hindson

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retreval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without prior permission of the publisher

To

Dr. Jay Adams

and

Dr. Howard Eyrich

For their friendship, counsel, and

confidence in the grace of God.

Contents

An Invitation to Renewed Hope

How to Handle Life’s Toughest Problems

Facing a Crisis with Confidence

Understanding Your Emotions

Dealing with Depression

How to Get Up When You’re Down

When You Just Can’t Take It Anymore

When You’re Tempted to Give Up

Finding Inner Peace and Strength

Getting Direction for Your Life

Reaching Out to Others

Rising Above Our Circumstances

Problems Are Really Opportunities

Appendix: Biblical Solutions to Life’s Toughest Problems

An Invitation to Renewed Hope

Roads are meant to be traveled, but sometimes they can get pretty rough. Life is such a road. It can lead to excitement and adventure or it can lead to failure and despair. Life is never all joy and no sadness. It is never success without failure or gain without pain. No matter who travels life’s paths there will be obstacles to face and pitfalls to avoid.

This book is written to encourage fellow travelers on the rough road of life. The longer you travel life’s highway the more you will realize that life is a journey of faith. Martin Luther once said, “We are not yet what we shall be but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished but it is going on; this is not the end but it is the road.”

No matter how much personal preparation you have made for the journey there will be obstacles ahead about which you never dreamed. Problems will have to be faced and decisions will have to be made. In every crisis of life there will be lessons to be learned and new growth to be attained. In every difficult circumstance ...