Upside of Adversity Quotes

“I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you byname (Isa. 45:3).”
― Os Hilman, Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness

“The Crisis that Defines Us God may also place us in black hole situations in order to give us a message to share with the world. Jesus said, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops” (Matt. 10:27, NKJV). Oswald Chambers reminds us that “song birds are taught to sing in the dark” and that the darkness is not a place for talking but a place for listening and learning. “If you talk to other people,” he says, “you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.”4 One way to look at a black hole is to see it as a defining moment. A defining moment is a time in our life when everything changes and we know that there’s no turning back. A defining moment crystallizes us and shapes us into the kind of people we will be. It’s an event in our lives that gives form and meaning to our existence.”
― Os Hilman, Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness

“God places us in black holes to teach us to trust Him with all our hearts—and that means He wants us to learn to trust His timing. God wants us to wait for His deliverance. Painful though it is, the black hole is God’s gift to us. It is His means of bringing us to spiritual maturity so that we will be able to discern the difference between our own self-deliverance and God’s authentic deliverance in our lives. It’s a paradox, but it’s true: God often calls us to a ministry and then deliberately thwarts our efforts to achieve our goals!”
― Os Hilman, Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness

“God’s method always seems to be vision first, and then reality, but in between the vision and the reality there is often a deep valley of humiliation. How often has a faithful soul been plunged into a like darkness when after the vision has come the test. 2”
― Os Hilman, Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness

“Provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor (Isa. 61:3).”
― Os Hilman, Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness

“Many years ago, an anonymous poet wrote these lines to describe how God shapes us and refines us for His use: When God wants to drill a man, And thrill a man, And skill a man; When God wants to mold a man To play the noblest part, When He yearns with all His heart To create so great and bold a man That all the world shall be amazed, Watch His methods, watch His ways— How He ruthlessly perfects Whom He royally elects. How He hammers him and hurts him, And with mighty blows, converts him Into trial shapes of clay Which only God understands, While his tortured heart is crying, And he lifts beseeching hands. How He bends but never breaks When his good He undertakes. How He uses whom He chooses, And with every purpose, fuses him, By every act, induces him To try His splendor out. God knows what He’s about.”
― Os Hilman, Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness

“A. W. Tozer once wrote, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.” God has a mission for your life and mine. But before we can carry out that mission, we must go through the boot camp of adversity.”
― Os Hilman, Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body (2 Cor. 4:8-10).”
― Os Hilman, Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness

“We must get beyond the immature notion that God is only interested in making us healthy, wealthy and happy. God wants so much more for us than that. He wants us to be wise, mature, obedient, bold and committed. He wants us to be like Christ. And the road to becoming like Christ often leads through the wilderness of adversity.”
― Os Hilman, Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness

“That’s what the Joseph Calling is all about. We dream a grand dream—and then the dream seems to wither and die in the face of adversity. We go through trials because adversity prepares us for leadership. Finally, when we have absorbed the lessons of adversity, God gives our dreams back to us and places us in a leadership position. Once there, God can use us in a way that He never could have if we had not passed through the pit of adversity. Ultimately, like Joseph, we become a spiritual and physical provider to those we are called to serve.”
― Os Hilman, Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness

“(Leaders are dreamers who look into the future and see reality before it comes to pass. Visionary dreamers often provoke jealousy in the people around them.)”
― Os Hilman, Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness