Lots of people live with an oppressive feeling of discouragement. Do you?

You flunk a test. Your boyfriend or girlfriend breaks things off. You’re laid off at work. You don’t make the team. Your medical tests came back with serious concerns. Your husband or wife grows distant. Your factory is closing. Your car breaks down. Your rent goes up. Your church attendance is flat.

Laura Horn is an artist and podcaster who said, “Sometimes being an artist is hard…. You put your heart and soul into a new body of work and it doesn’t sell…. Then there’s the world of social media…. We see the artist that sells out their work in minutes…. We see fancy studios with assistants…. It’s a challenging world filled with highs and lows.”¹

Often we’re as discouraged by national or global events as we are by personal setbacks. Your candidate lost the election. Your party loses power. There’s another mass casualty event or act of terrorism. Inflation soars. Another pandemic threatens.

Discouragement comes in all shapes and sizes and is usually tethered to the loss of a hope. The Israelites faced this in the wilderness. Numbers 21:4 says, “And the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way.”

Is your soul discouraged? Then let me give you some verses about this from the New International Version of the Bible, but I warn you—there’s a redundancy to them (and that’s the point I’m wanting to make).

• Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged (Deuteronomy 1:21).
• Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged (Deuteronomy 31:8).
• Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9).
• Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged (Joshua 8:1).
• Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous (Joshua 10:25).
• Do not be afraid or discouraged (1 Chronicles 22:13).
• Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you (1 Chronicles 28:20).
• Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s (2 Chronicles 20:15).
• Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you (2 Chronicles 20:17).
• Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged (2 Chronicles 32:7).
• I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged (Ephesians 3:13).

Now, I ask you—is it God’s will for you to remain discouraged for long? Obviously not! So how do we bounce back? Here’s the key. We have to fix our eyes on the WORD, not on the WORLD. How do we do that? Well, let me offer some suggestions. I’ve been in the ministry long enough to have felt waves of discouragement from many directions. With the Lord’s help, I’ve never allowed discouragement to swamp my soul, and these are the steps that have helped me.

Minimize Media Exposure

My first suggestion is to minimize media exposure. The news media is primarily concerned with bad news. In earlier days when newspapers were our primary way of getting news, the editors lived by the maxim: “If it bleeds, it leads.” No one reports on planes that land safely, banks that aren’t robbed, or dogs that don’t bite. While we certainly need to be aware of what’s happening in the world, why should we sit all day and watch the cable stations? Most of what you hear is a rehash of what was said half an hour before. The same is true for news apps and websites and all kinds of social media. Learn what’s happening, then turn down the noise. Focus on the Word, not the world.

Prioritize Daily Devotions

When you minimize your screen time, you’ll find fresh moments for personal Bible study and prayer. The Bible is a very encouraging book. In fact, one of the descriptions for the Bible is “this word of encouragement” (Hebrews 12:5, NIV). Within its pages, you learn about a God who possesses ultimate authority, a Savior who provides life everlasting, a power that turns curses into blessings, a promise that all things work for good, and a Father who answers prayer. You meet biblical heroes who overcame their own discouragements. I believe it is impossible to be chronically discouraged if the Word of God is consistently dwelling richly in you.

Memorize Encouraging Verses

As you spend time in God’s Word, you’ll find some extremely uplifting verses to memorize. Think you can’t memorize Scripture? You can! Just find a verse you like and read it aloud ten times every day for a week. It should begin to imbed itself in your memory. If not, continue for another week.

Author and speaker Jennifer Rothschild, who has faced plenty of discouragements of her own, including blindness, wrote, “God’s Word is our consistent and life-changing antidote for discouragement. That’s why we study it, memorize it, and live it.”²

If you can’t decide where to start, why not begin learning this verse by heart: “Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:31). As the hymnist wrote, “Why should I feel discouraged?... His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”

Visualize Biblical Promises

As you focus on the Word instead of the world, you’ll find some of God’s wonderful promises. The Bible is filled with them. For example, Psalm 91:4 says, “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.” Notice those four vivid words—“feathers,” “wings,” “shield,” and “buckler.” The latter word refers to a small shield you can hold in your hand. Some translations render this “armor and shield.” When we meditate on Scripture, we are visualizing and personalizing it. See yourself covered by divine wings, protected by divine armor.

In John 10:14, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.” Why not put your head on the pillow and fall asleep while picturing that comforting image in your mind. Your good Shepherd knows you personally and lovingly, and you know Him.

Stabilize Your Emotions

A frequently quoted psalm says, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God” (Psalm 42:1). Later in the passage, the writer admits he is battling discouragement but determines to stabilize his reeling emotions. Speaking to himself, he says, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance” (verse 5).

The best way to encourage ourselves in the Lord is to preach to ourselves, to remind ourselves that there is hope and our hope is in God. He will help us. His countenance will shine on us. He has not forgotten us. He knows all about our disappointments and distractions. He is attentive; He is near; He will work things out.

Elisabeth Elliott said, “The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.” Remembering the promise of His presence steadies the heart.

Emphasize Your Blessings

Finally, emphasize your blessings. Every single morning begins with fresh mercies flowing from God’s great faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23). When you feel discouraged, start shifting your focus to what is going right in your life. Our blessings outnumber our burdens. Charles Spurgeon said, “On taking a survey of our whole life, we see that the kindness of God has run through it all like a silver thread. Goodness and mercy have followed us all our days.”³

If you’ve been discouraged recently, shift your focus from the world to the Word. The child of God is never without powerful spiritual resources. Your Father has given you His Word, His presence, His promises, and His people. You have brighter days to come and an endless life to anticipate. The Bible tells us to set our minds “on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). When we fix our minds on the Scripture and our eyes on the Savior, discouragement dissolves like fog lifting from a quiet valley.

Living in today’s tumultuous world can be discouraging! But don’t look down and be plagued by discouragement; look up and be strengthened with hope. Be encouraged. Start living today in the promises of His Word, not in the predicaments of our world.

Sources:

¹ Laura Horn, “A Message for Discouraged Artists.”

² Jennifer Rothschild, “A Bible That’s Falling Apart,” Facebook, May 5, 2025.

³ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “The Pitifulness of the Lord the Comfort of the Afflicted,” Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 31, June 14, 1885.