Reap What You Sow Mondays with Tony: Overcoming the Odds – How Women Have Reaped a Harvest from Hardship

As we continue to celebrate Women’s History Month, we take time to reflect on the unshakable resilience of women throughout history. Women have faced adversity, shattered barriers, and turned their greatest challenges into their greatest triumphs. What was meant to break them only built them up, and the seeds they planted in times of hardship have grown into legacies of strength, wisdom, and victory.

From enslaved women who fought for freedom to modern-day leaders breaking glass ceilings, history’s most influential women have proven that struggle is often the soil where greatness grows.

Genesis 50:20 (NKJV)

"But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."

This scripture reminds us that what others intend for harm, God can turn into a blessing. No matter how difficult the circumstances, women have taken pain and transformed it into power, ensuring that the next generation reaps a harvest of opportunity and hope.

Let’s explore the power of perseverance, the stories of women who turned setbacks into setups, and the lessons we can learn from their faith and determination.

Hardship is the Soil Where Strength Grows

When faced with hardships, discrimination, injustice, and loss, women throughout history have made a choice:✅ To endure instead of give up.✅ To rise instead of remain down.✅ To transform their pain into purpose.

📖 James 1:2-4 (NKJV)"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

Hardship is not the end of the road—it is often the pathway to something greater. Every struggle produces a lesson, every challenge produces growth, and every opposition is an opportunity.

Women Who Turned Struggles into Strength

1. Harriet Tubman – From Slavery to Freedom Fighter

Born into slavery, Harriet Tubman could have accepted her fate. Instead, she escaped and went back again and again to free over 300 enslaved people through the Underground Railroad. She was often hunted, but she never wavered.

What was meant for evil, God turned for good.

📖 Romans 8:28 (NKJV)"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

🔹 Lesson: Hardship doesn’t define you—your faith, courage, and persistence do.

2. Maya Angelou – From Trauma to Global Influence

Maya Angelou survived childhood trauma, abuse, and discrimination. For years, she refused to speak, believing that her words caused harm. Yet, through her pain, she found her voice, becoming one of the most powerful poets and storytellers of all time.

Her struggles became the soil where her wisdom grew.

📖 Psalm 147:3 (NKJV)"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."

🔹 Lesson: What once silenced you can be the very thing that gives you a voice to help others.

3. Oprah Winfrey – From Poverty to Powerhouse

Oprah Winfrey was born into poverty, suffered abuse, and faced rejection early in her career. Many doubted her abilities, but she refused to be limited by her circumstances. Today, she is one of the most influential media moguls in the world.

Her pain became her platform.

📖 Isaiah 61:3 (NKJV)"To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."

🔹 Lesson: Your past does not dictate your future—your determination and faith do.

4. Esther – From Orphan to Queen & Deliverer of a Nation

Esther’s life began with loss and uncertainty, but she was placed in a position of power for a greater purpose. When the Jewish people were threatened, she risked her life to speak up—and saved an entire nation.

Her story reminds us that God can use hardship to place us exactly where we need to be.

📖 Esther 4:14 (NKJV)"Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

🔹 Lesson: Your struggles may be preparing you for a moment when you will change lives.

How We Can Turn Setbacks into Setups

Hardships are part of the process, but they don’t have to define the outcome.

1. Shift Your Perspective on Struggles

Instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me?” ask:

✅ “What is this preparing me for?”

✅ “How can I use this for good?”

✅ “Who can I help because of what I’ve been through?”

📖 2 Corinthians 4:17 (NKJV)"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Your struggles are not wasted—they are preparing you for greater things.

2. Use Your Story to Inspire Others

The women we honor today didn’t just survive—they shared their stories so that others could be encouraged.

Harriet Tubman didn’t stop at her own freedom—she freed others.
Maya Angelou didn’t stay silent—she wrote words that healed others.
Oprah didn’t let rejection stop her—she created opportunities for others.

📖 Revelation 12:11 (NKJV)"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony."

Your story can be someone else’s survival guide.

3. Keep Pushing Forward in Faith

Women throughout history have taught us that persistence and faith open doors that hardship tries to close.

📖 Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Never let temporary struggles make you forget the greatness inside you.

Challenge for the Week

✅ Encourage a woman who is facing struggles—remind her that her story is not over.

✅ Write down a challenge you’ve overcome and how it made you stronger.

✅ Share the story of a woman who inspires you and what you’ve learned from her journey.

✅ Step out in faith—turn your biggest obstacle into your greatest testimony.

Every setback is a setup for a greater purpose—you are not just surviving, you are sowing seeds of victory!

Call to Action

Women’s resilience has shaped history—now it’s our turn to continue planting seeds of strength, wisdom, and faith.

Visit www.tyronetonyreedjr.com/the-shop to grab your autographed copy of S.O.L.A.D.™: Soldiers of Light Against Darkness™, a novel that uplifts and empowers!