We’re a few weeks into January, and for some, life has already gotten crazy. It’s amazing how fast things can change. One minute, it’s a new year, new you…the next you’re struggling to keep going and put one foot in front of the other with school schedule, work load, projects, finances, and more.
When Everything Falls Apart
What do you do when it all comes apart? When it feels like everything is crashing and burning around you? How do you find the strength to get up and keep going?
Maybe it’s not even a huge trial. Maybe it’s discouragement or defeat or even shame. You walked into this new year with dreams and goals, and then life hit. And now, it feels so overwhelming. You feel like a failure. You feel less then, not enough. Discouragement has set up camp in your heart, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere.
As a person who is definitely affected by the season changes and the sun, I can get so easily discouraged in the dark, cold, dreary days of January and February. I know that, and I try my best to prepare for it. But sometimes, it still comes anyway. So what do you do? How do you find perspective? How do you find the ability to take a deep breath?
What’s the Answer?
Stop.
Be still.
Look up.
“Be still, and know that I am God!
Psalm 46:10
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.”
It seems too simple. It feels like we have to do more. Try harder. And yet, when it feels like everything is falling apart, the best thing we can do is to be still. Realign ourselves with God. Spend time talking to Him, pouring out your heart before him. And then just sit quietly, in his presence. It’s a lot harder than it seems, but if we can learn to do it, the benefits are incredible.
Peace.
Breathing room for our soul.
An end to anxious thoughts.
Redirection.
New focus.
A Few Songs to Encourage Your Heart
Another way to be still before God is to listen to music that helps us to focus on God. Below are several songs that bring encouragement to my heart, no matter how many times I listen to them.
The advice I give time and time again to people is God hasn’t forgotten you. He sees you. He hears you.
Find a time and a place to just be still this week and reconnect with him and let that be the reset you need to keep moving forward.
More Encouragement
For more encouragement, read 3 Ways to Turn Discouragement into Hope. A great book to encourage your heart to dream again and not to get stuck in discouragement is Called to Dream by Rick Warren.