Discouraged? If so, this post is for you.

The items on this list have all been challenged in real life during my hardest and most humbling seasons.

In other words, this is a list that keeps growing.

These 30 random thoughts are all notes I’ve made in my journals over time to remind me what is true.

So, in no particular order—

1. One way we keep our head above water is by choosing to believe healing can happen in any painful situation. This isn’t the power of positive thinking—this is hope, and hope is a powerful antidote.

2. Because this is the circumstance God has chosen for us today, we’re not missing out on anything better.

3. When we sing Truth, something in us shifts. This is partly because songs are sometimes able to name things we’re unable to name for ourselves. So sing. (The trick, of course, is learning to sing in the pit.)

4. Walking can be one of the most healing choices we can make. We move to keep the stress moving through us. (Even better: Talk to God while you walk.)

5. God is good even when life isn’t good. If this isn’t true, then nothing is true.

6. Who in your life has permission to tell you the truth about anything and everything? Keep that person close, especially when you’re discouraged.

7. Ask for help. We actually grow stronger—not weaker—when we admit our need. (Fun fact: When we pretend we’re “fine,” people will believe us.)

8. Refuse to let your thoughts be a liar in your life. Or at least, don’t you dare listen.

9. On the worst days, learn to tell yourself: I’m not okay today, but I will be.

10. When you’re most discouraged, look for someone else to encourage. The consequence of that decision can be life-changing.

More thoughts

11. We do not heal in isolation. Also, social media can be a hollow substitute for true connection.

12. Sometimes, gifts don’t actually feel like gifts. Wait to decide the final verdict.

13. Refuse to have a love affair with the life you hoped to live.

14. God will never squander what He’s asked you to sacrifice.

15. Deal with the resentment now, or deal with it later.

16. Surrender the need to understand, “Why?” We think knowing the answer will somehow eliminate the pain, but it probably won’t. A better question than Why? is What now?

17. When it comes to resentment, there’s no good in it—and plenty of additional harm.

18. We won’t learn from our discouragement unless we’re able to admit we have things to learn.

19. God’s capacity to help you in your time of need is as big as God Himself.

20. Worship God, especially when you don’t feel like it. Worship doesn’t require you to first feel like doing it.

And finally

21. Instead of numbing, seek to engage. It requires hard work, but it’s worth it.

22. Avoid saying cruel or unhelpful things to other people. It’ll only add to your pain.

23. Learn to say this about your painful circumstance even before you’re ready to believe it: God didn’t sentence me; He trusted me.

24. New dreams can always be made, and old dreams can always be modified.

25. Complaining seeks relief. Vulnerability seeks connection. Humility seeks growth.

26. Being discouraged doesn’t make sinful responses any less destructive.

27. Refuse to be crippled by unhelpful what-ifs.

28. Life isn’t typically made unbearable because of what we experience, but it can become unbearable because of how we respond to what we experience.

29. This discouragement won’t last forever.

30. Here’s what I know for sure about your deepest discouragement and mine: God will be with us in it.