In today’s society, there are a lot of people my age that are moving forward in life, and I feel stuck, which is depressing. As a Christian, it is very discouraging because growing up, I thought that once we accept God, things become easier, but I discovered that things become a little more complicated.

James tells us that we should count it all joy when we run into troubles (James 1:2-4), but it is hard to be joyful when the enemy is constantly roaring in our ear. However, I am not allowing the enemy to discourage me anymore as I am living on the promise that God will supply all of my needs according to his riches in glory (Phil. 4:19).

I know that I have a lot of work to do in trusting God, but with each new day, I am learning to trust God more as he is helping me do so. I am often hard on myself, but I know I should not be too hard on myself because life is not easy, and there are plenty of people feeling the same pain that I am feeling. I am going to share some ways that you can keep yourself encouraged.

The first thing that I do to encourage myself is that I remind myself of the blessings that I already have and what God has brought me through. I was told that I would never finish school, and after seven long years, I was blessed with the opportunity to walk across the stage and receive a diploma that I never thought I would receive.

This event reminds me of what I have read in the book of Psalms when God will give us the desires of our heart when we delight in him (Ps. 37:4). However, we do have to line up our lives with his will, and I believe that it was his will for me to attend school because he made a way for me to attend the most expensive school in the region, Arcadia University.

I also encourage myself by reminding myself that I was brought through a successful surgery on my back, a risky surgery that a lot of young people take a while to recover from, in which I quickly recovered from. I was sixteen when I had the surgery and although I was saved, I was not living my life as such, and even though we walk away from God, he does not walk away from us.

I am grateful that he is a God who is merciful that he will not turn his back on us. Hebrews reminds us that God will not leave us or abandon us (Heb.13:5). For those who do not know God, it is very pleasing to know that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and it is good to know you have someone you can pray to when you are in trouble. I often have to remind myself that God never changes nor lets us down, and it makes me feel better every time.

Another way I tend to encourage myself is by looking at the news and talking to others who are my age. According to NBC News in an article that was published last April, more millennials are having a tough time landing work that was easier to come by in the 1980s and even early 2000s. A lot of millennials are therefore still living at home as the cost of living is higher.

This statistic makes me feel better and I mean no offense to those who are going through this now, as I feel your pain. I am currently going through the “dry season,” when you cannot find proper employment after college. All of this time I have been “kicking” myself because I kept thinking maybe did I not do enough while I was in school and come to find out, I am not the only person who is hurting right now.

The final piece of encouragement that I find is that God is providing me with money to pay my bills, and for that I am grateful. The bible teaches us that God is a sustainer, and my helper (Ps. 54:4). Therefore, God may not pull you out the pit right away, but he will travel with us and take care us.

When we go through things, it produces perseverance, and endurance (James 1:3). We may feel like things are not going well and our faith is winding down, but all God doing is simply seeing if we give up or keep going. I do not know about any of you, but I want to keep going because I want to please God in any way I can.

You see, life is not easy and it will get harder before it gets easier. However, we must not give up no matter how hard it gets. When you are going through, just remember the positive things that may have prepared you for that particular time in your life, and how much you will appreciate reaching your goal when the storm is over. For those who know the Lord, remember we are all conquerors (Rom. 8:37).