Finding Hope When You are Discouraged
Hi dear friend! Do you feel discouraged today, as in feeling brokenhearted, downhearted, or sad? One way I find hope is in knowing God loves me and doesn’t condemn me when I have feelings of discouragement—that I will never get better, or accomplish anything significant, or make it through my day. One thing you can be sure of—discouragement is not from God.
I can give you a pep talk, but God is your greatest cheerleader. Have you watched the Olympics and seen a runner fall and hobble to the finish line? Sometimes the crowd cheers him on and sometimes not. He doesn’t win a medal. But he does finish the race.
Jesus cheers you on each day as you run the race of life with mental illness. And if you have believed in Jesus to give you eternal life, you are promised a transformation into a glorious new body and a home in heaven where there will be no death, nor crying or pain. God also promises you a great inheritance—that you inherit what Christ inherits. If you’ve completely given up on living life anymore, don’t think of heaven as a way out through suicide, but rather a great hope.
I find hope in eternal life in Christ, and though there are times in my life when I lose hope and get discouraged, I have other reminders to inspire me and help me carry on:
If God is for us, who is against us? (Romans 8:31)
There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still. (Corrie Ten Boom)
The victory is in the effort, not the result. (Dr. Chris Thurman)
Celebrate every small victory. (My counselor)
Success is not final. Failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts. (Winston Churchill)
I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me? (Jeremiah 32:27)
As I may have written before, I lost the desire to live, but never the will. God has given us a will, and though we may feel trapped by our day in and day out limitations, there are choices we can make.
A quote I saw on Instagram said that loss of hope means that we are stuck. What do you do when you are stuck? Ask God to show you the “next right thing” to help you get unstuck. I journal my feelings, and the process of writing and seeing it on paper helps me get my feelings out, and sometimes gain new perspective.
I highly recommend seeing a Christian counselor or therapist to talk about where you feel stuck. I’ve driven home from my counselor’s office in past years feeling empowered and less discouraged and more hope-filled.
Talking to a friend who is positive and loves you unconditionally can bring hope. It has for me. Hearing the voice of someone who loves me and gives me a listening ear revives my hope.
Reading my ESV Bible app on my phone at times during the day or evening points me to Christ and to scriptures that bring hope that I can have access to anywhere, like a coffee shop or a waiting room. It’s easy to download the app.
Do you have a purpose for living? If you don’t know it, ask God to show you what it is. Jesus gives us a mission in life to tell others about Him through our lives and words. Don’t give up hope that God can use you in someone else’s life. You are probably farther along than you think you are.
Day by day, one step a time we can come to Jesus for hope in Him. He refreshes our spirit through His Word and renews our minds. The Bible has tons of promises for us, and the book of Ephesians chapter one says God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ right now!
My message to all of us is this: don’t give up hope! What brings you hope?
Listen to the song Living Hope by Phil Wickham.
- Marilyn