EVERYTHING WORKS FOR YOUR GOOD

The state of your life has everything to do with the focus of your life.

You can have as much joy or as much sadness as you want. Both are available to you every single day. And which one you experience has far less to do with your circumstances than you think.

I know this because I've lived on both sides of it.

Last year I hit a season where I spiraled. I convinced myself I could never be what I wanted to be. Never have what I wanted to have. Never hear from God. I lost trust in myself and in Him because I let my focus land on everything that wasn't working.

And there were hard things. Real ones. Friends lost. Ideas crushed. Family struggles that took everything we had.

But on the other side of all of that — a strong marriage. A healed body. A job I loved. Miracles everywhere I looked.

There were always more miracles than trials.

But I couldn't see them. Because I wasn't looking for them.

And the more I focused on the problems — the more problems I created. A bad mindset. A hole that felt so deep I couldn't see the top of it anymore.

Here's what I've learned about hard things:

You're allowed to see that something is hard. You're allowed to let it be hard. You don't have to pretend it isn't.

But there's a difference between acknowledging something is hard and letting it become your whole focus.

My favorite thing to say — in the good times and the hard ones — is this:

Everything is working for my good.

Not because it makes the hard thing easy. Not because it takes away the reality of what's happening. But because I know without a shadow of a doubt that God works everything for our good. He creates these situations — even the painful ones — to grow us, move us, and get us exactly where we need to be.

And the promise isn't just that He's working it for your good. It's that you were never handed anything you aren't strong enough to overcome. You were created to get through this. And no matter how hard it gets — God will match it with His endless power and love. He will never stop sending miracles.

In the Action phase specifically this gets tricky.

You've done the work. You've created her on paper. You know who she is. You're trying to be her.

And then the timing doesn't happen the way you expected.

And the negative thinking starts.

It's taking too long. It must not be for me. This was all made up. God doesn't want me to have this. If I don't have it by now I'll never have it.

Those thoughts feel so real. So convincing. Like they're just being honest with you about how things actually are.

But they're not honesty. They're fear. And the more you let them be your top belief — the more your life will start to reflect them.

What to do when you're there:

Go back to the basics.

Look for the small things. A butterfly landing near you. A number you love showing up. A couple laughing and holding hands. Your chickens running up to you when you walk outside.

God connects with you in the precise ways He knows you'll notice. Start noticing them back. Give them a conscious nod. Say it out loud if you can —

Everything is working for my good.

And from there every day gets a little easier. You start seeing bigger things working for you. You fill up with more hope. Sometimes it's just one hard day. Sometimes it's a harder season. But the more you practice this the less time you spend in that place.

Because really — everything's looking up.

Kadin reminded me of that last year when I was buried in it. He pulled me back to the light. Back to what we know. And I started choosing to see the miracles — big ones, small ones — and they led me right here.

To GRL. To you. To the start of everything we've been building toward.

That frozen winter became sunshine.

And yours will too.

LIVE IT — The Good Focus Practice

Every day this week — morning and night — name three things you see that feel good. Look good. Radiate something worth noticing.

Say it out loud or give it a conscious nod and a smile.

I see that. That's good. That's God.

And when the negative thinking comes — and it will — put this on repeat:

Everything is working for my good.

Not because you feel it yet. Because you're choosing it. And the more you choose it the more true it becomes.

THE GRL TAKEAWAY

Both good and hard are happening all around you every single day.

Which one you focus on is which one you'll see more of.

Choose the good. Name it. Claim it.

Everything is working for your good.

— GRL