God Will Bring You Through It: Stronger, Bigger And Better

“If God brings you to it, He will lead you through it.” Suburbians 3:9

A little while back, I walked away from a company that I had built over the course of three long and grueling years. I had invested over 10,000 hours of my time into developing a platform and close to 6 figures of my own money. About a year in, I brought in a partner and gave him 50% of the company.

I suppose I’m just a very giving person by nature. When you give, you don’t expect to have people take advantage of you. Three years in, I walked away. I should have known the type of person he was. But, the funny thing is, I’m not mad about it anymore. And I know that God brought me through that situation for a reason.

Interestingly enough, so many blessings have happened since then. It’s because I chose to focus on positivity rather than the negative. You know, we all have a choice when things go wrong. We can sit around and lament about it. We can be upset and angry at the world or other people. Or we can move on. I chose to move on rather than quarrel. It’s just not in my DNA.

Not only did God bring me through it. He made me stronger. Bigger. Better. More capable of understanding the world and business and people around me. But the most important thing that I learned through this entire situation was that although we’re faced with challenging times in our lives, they’re meant to build us up, not break us down.

Obviously, when you’re wading through the depths of hell, you’re not thinking about that. Those things don’t cross your mind. But it’s in the midst of that pain that most of the growth occurs. That’s why God brings us there and subsequently takes us out. There’s a rhyme and a reason for it. We just don’t understand it at the moment.

I’ve learned to let go and focus on doing good things. I’ve learned to leave my animosity and my regrets and my pain at the door. It’s just not worth the hassle. It’s not worth the ill will and the bad vibes. The Law of Attraction states that we attract things based on our vibrational energy. Like attracts like. Think negative thoughts and negative things will happen.

Now, whether you believe in God, Allah, Buddha, or simply the spiritual oneness that binds us all, there is something out there at work. Something beyond what we can see. It stems beyond the empirical data that most of us require to prove that something exists. It’s in the ether. The eternal. The quarks and leptons that bind all matter and energy in the universe.

 

How To Trust In The Journey

I know it’s hard to have trust in the journey. It’s difficult to believe that good things are around the corner for you. Especially when you’re going through tough times. Especially when everything around you is falling apart and bad things keep on happening. Everyone knows that.

However, true belief resides in the realm of faith. That means that although you don’t know for certain that something is going to happen, you believe it. You believe it right down to your very core. It inspires you and motivates you to keep on going. You have to trust the journey. You have to trust that God will bring you through it.

When I was 16-years old, I was hit by a car. I don’t remember the impact. But it was so severe that I was hurled some 30 feet away from where I had crossed the road out into the middle of a busy 3-lane street. I was distraught. Had no idea what was going on. As I opened my eyes, a crowd had gathered around me.

I remember the face of a woman. She had kind eyes. She told me I had been in a little accident. Little? I couldn’t focus and the next thing I remember I was in an ambulance and my clothes were being torn off. The amount of injuries I sustained should have killed me. But someone was watching over me.

I’m not sure why until this very day. How I could have gotten hit straight on by a car traveling over 65 miles per hour, and survived to tell about it? How I could have been hurled 30 feet across a busy street and lived? My life changed drastically from that point. Everything about it was upheaved.

But I trusted in that journey. God had another plan for me. The plan had nothing to do with being where I was. In fact, that single day altered the trajectory of the rest of my life. Everything that I have in my life is the product of that fork in the road. And although it was painful, it lead me to a place I was meant to be.

 

Footprints In The Sand

When I was just a kid, my mom bought me a small framed piece of art. It was Footprints In The Sand, a poem written by Mary Fishback Powers. It was the picture of waves crashing on a golden-sanded beach with footprints leading away. I will never forget that framed picture. On it, there were Powers’ poignant words that read:

Tough Times Don’t Last

Robert Schuller once said that “Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.” There’s something to say about being persistent and pushing forward. It doesn’t matter what’s happened in your life. No matter what cataclysmic failure or set back that you’ve suffered, there is a path forward.

I know it’s hard to sometimes let go of the pain. Hard to overcome the anger or the guilt. Impossible to let go of the resentments that hold us back. But all of those negative things don’t serve you. They only limit you. Just keep the faith. God will bring you through it.

And those tough times definitely will not last. If you’re struggling right now, here are 5 things you should do immediately to allow yourself to move past it.

1. Fill your heart with gratitude

Any time that I start beating myself up over a failure or a set back, I think about how grateful I am for everything that I have. It’s hard to appreciate the things we have. More often than not, we long for the things we don’t have. We want a better job, a nicer car, a bigger house, a wife or kids or more money in the bank. We don’t often appreciate the things that we do have.

The truth? Everything that you have in your life right now was once just a wish. It was a hope or a dream. Today, you have those things. But we always want more. There’s nothing wrong with wanting more. But not at the expense of appreciating what you do have.

Imagine that right now there are people in far worse situations than yourself. Sure, it’s hard to think about that. Or, you might be thinking that no one has it worse off. Believe me, they do. Out there in this cold, dark world, there are some atrocities taking place that are beyond the imagination. So the next time you think about how tough the times are, fill your heart with gratitude.

 

2. Start to future pace

No matter what you believe, there is sheer power in focused thoughts. The one way to move past a tough time is to start future pacing. My friend, Dean Graziosi talks about this a lot. He talks about putting yourself into the mindset of already having achieved something. What does that feel like? What does your day look like?

This is more than setting goals. This is about imagining life as if you’ve already achieved those goals. Believe me, there is true power and ferocity in this way of thinking. This stems from the abundant mindset. Think and you shall become. Or so the saying goes. And no truer words have ever been spoken.

This is a concept used not just by Graziosi, but also one that’s taught by the world’s leading success coaches. Mindset is so key. It’s everything when it comes to achieving those outlandish goals. Don’t limit yourself by what others say or what you think you’re capable of. You can literally do anything.

 

3. Focus on contribution

If there’s a tremendous amount of pain right now, focus on contribution. How can you help others? When I walked away from that business that I had poured my heart and soul into, I went out there and found people succeeding at the highest level, and I offered to help them.

I didn’t ask for anything in exchange. I just helped. I was of service, if you will. If you have some value you can give to people in the world, give it. Don’t ask for anything in return. Don’t accept anything in exchange. Just do good things for people. And good things will come back to you.

Maybe this is karma or some other force of nature at work. But it really does work. Go out there and find someone you can help. Whether you donate your time or other resources or even money, just do it. Help others. Be of service. Contribute. Give and give and keep giving. That’s when the magic happens.

 

4. Be patient, good things will happen again

If God brought you to it, he will bring you through it. But it won’t happen overnight. It takes time. So be patient. Don’t expect something to happen within the span of hours or even days. Just keep the faith and be steadfast. As hard as it might be, don’t succumb to the temptation of letting it all go and throwing caution to the wind. It’s not worth it.

Patience is a virtue. It’s hard to be patient. I know that. But it’s important. Persistence will always win out. The turtle will always win for being slow and steady. Good things will start to happen over time as long as you don’t give up. When you look back at this time years from now, you’ll be glad you waded through it.

Don’t try to escape. Don’t use drugs or alcohol as a crutch. It’s just not worth it. And it will only make matters worse in your life. Just hold steady and keep the faith. That’s just what it takes.

 

5. Time heals all wounds, give it time

Time heals everything. Everything. It’s hard to imagine that when you’re dealing with the pain, but it’s the truth. So there’s a litmus test that you can use. Ask yourself this questions. 5 years from now, how important will this be? You might not even remember it. And even if you do, how important will it be way into the future?

The importance of this is that our mental and emotional and spiritual resources can easily be drained. When you allow things to fester and you don’t try to focus on the positive aspects of life, it can go downhill quite fast. So be wary of what you think and how you think about things. Problems are only temporary.

Even if you’re dealing with a major loss, you have to have find the silver lining. It’s crucial, in fact. Find a way to create good out of a bad situation. There’s always a way to that. You just have to find it.