9 Songs for Encouragement When You Struggle in Life
Inside: Do you need some encouragement? Is life a struggle right now? These 9 Christian songs for encouragement will help build you up!
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Do you ever have those weeks where everything is hard? One thing after another happens, and you feel like you can’t take any more bad news.
Many times, it feels like we’re sucker-punched in the gut, and we start to wonder what is going on.
Have you been there, friend?
If you’re like me, I can take a few punches to the gut, but eventually, my resolve fades, and I wonder why I’m a target, what God is doing and where is He anyway?
In those moments, isn’t it easy to question God?
It’s easy to sink down into a pit of discouragement.
The Self-Pity Party
My selfishness wants me to think that I have it so bad….actually, I was feeling like indulging in self-pity a few weeks ago.
After a child’s medical diagnosis, and then some health concerns for myself, relationship problems, and a few other events, I was sitting in the coffee shop feeling a little discouraged.
God saw me and decided to hit me smack in the face.
As I was sitting there, a man came in. This particular man is younger than me, he is married, has two young children and has been fighting for his life.
As I sit here typing this, the tears still well up.
(This young man has spent his life helping others as a police officer and then studying to be a registered nurse.
A year ago, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon/rectal cancer. While he was receiving chemotherapy for that, a brain tumor was discovered. During the surgery to remove the brain tumor, he suffered a stroke. He continues to battle cancer.)
As I’m sitting there counting everything that is wrong and frustrating in my life, he walks in using canes in both hands. He is smiling and telling everyone what a beautiful day it was.
Right there at the black leather table in the coffee shop, I lost it. It was the blubbering type of cry too, you know the ugly one?!?
The Leader of Discouragement
The devil’s greatest tool against each of us is discouragement.
The devil’s greatest tool against each of us is discouragement. #unmaskingthemess Share on XBecause we live in a fallen world, we are going to have trials and problems.
All the devil has to do is feed us lies about our situation.
You’re a disgrace
Your life is falling apart
You will never get through this.
God isn’t for you
And so many times, we buy into these lies, hook line, and sinker.
The devil has us right where he wants us. Can he keep us there and take away our hope?
God Never Gives Up on Us
In those moments, it’s easy to feel like God has given up on us. But the truth is, we many times we give up on him.
One of God’s names is He is Yahweh which means I AM. God is unchangeable and constant.
One of God’s names is He is Yahweh which means I AM. God is unchangeable and constant. #unmaskingthemess Share on X14 God replied to Moses, “I am who i am.[a] Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.”
What God tells us, how He loves us, and His constancy in our lives will never change.
What God tells us, how He loves us, and His constancy in our lives will never change. #unmaskingthemess Share on XWe might not see a better way in the mess, but God has a way and sees a plan.
Even when our marriage is on the rocks.
When our health is up in the air.
Or when parenting is hard.
Sickness descends on our family.
You might be saying that’s great, but you don’t understand my situation- God left me years ago.
God’s Record
Friend, might I point out the Israelites’ story in the Bible.
You can read pages and pages of their plight in the Old Testament and come to the same conclusion. These people ran from God, and yet, He never left them. They gave up on God, but He never gave up on them.
Google some of the songs for encouragement, they turned to!
No matter how long it’s been or how far you are from God, He is still there. One-hundred percent there.
God is no stranger to discouragement.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus felt discouraged.
32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba,[f] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.
Do you see how Jesus left His discouragement behind?
The Encouraging Truth
Jesus trusted that God has a way. It wasn’t His way, but the Father’s way.
And so it is with us when the devil wants to grab hold of us and take us down into the pit of discouragement, remember God is with you. He’s all in with you.
He didn’t send His son for your sins to leave you alone. He’s for you and has a plan for your life. See Jeremiah 29:11
Remember my story from the beginning of this post, I had lost my composure however, planting myself in God’s truth turned it around for me! I used many of these songs for encouragement to get me through!
He is for me, not against me and can use all the problems in my life for good and to encourage others.
This man who has suffered more than most is a glaring reminder to me that God uses all things.
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together[a] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
God is everywhere, and He is here when you need encouragement.
God gave his only son before he’s give up on you. ~Max Lucado
Using songs for encouragement isn’t a new thing…grab a hymnal and find songs written during hard times.
Google the song, “It is Well With My Soul” and the writer Horatio Spafford.
Nine Songs for Encouragement
- Casting Crowns- “Just Be Held“
- Casting Crowns- “Praise You in the Storm”
- Hillsong- “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)”
- Tenth Ave North- “You Are More“
- Matthew West- “More“
- For King & Country – “The Proof Of Your Love“
- Casting Crowns- “Oh My Soul”
- Mandisa- “Overcomer“
- Sidewalk Prophets- “Keep Making Me”
Trust God, He knows what He’s doing friend!
If you’re looking for more encouraging songs:
10 Christian Songs When You Need Hope
In Due Time: Hope and Encouragement in the Waiting
You’re Going to Be Okay: Encouraging Truth Your Heart Needs To Hear, Especially On The Hard DaysAn Anchor for the Soul – DevotionalBe Still and Know: 365 Days of Hope and Encouragement for WomenBible Verse Journal – Hope and Encouragement: Read and Journal a Bible Verse Each Day for 30 Days (The Well Versed Day – Bible Verse Journals)
This is so beautiful. I would have fallen into the the same ugly tears. I love everything about this. Perspective!!! …perspective. God sure knows how to knock us over the head when we need it. He’s probably in heaven rolling His eyes at me now.
Love all of these songs. I listen to them almost daily. 🙂
These are GREAT songs! “Oceans” has always spoked to me when I need encouragement. I love the lyrics about understanding that I need to keep my eyes above the waves and trust that God is with me.
Such a good reminder…and such good songs!
I can SO relate to you! I have been discouraged for so long now, it feels like an old, crummy friend that just hangs around you, trying to bring you down. I get it. I am there right now in some ways. And I totally get the crying thing, as well. Girl, we are kindred spirits! I would have broken down seeing that guy with all his struggles, too. I often am reminded of the same thing – my life can seem difficult, but there is always someone who is struggling more. Great perspective to keep in mind when the whining rears its complaining head! (Ha ha ha…) But yeah, God’s ways are not our way, and sometimes things don’t work out as we’d like them to, but just as Jesus was in the Garden praying to take it away, His resolve was to do God’s will, even when it was so hard… so terribly hard.
God bless you for this post! It definitely encouraged me, and those songs are great encouragers, too.
God has used nearly all of these songs to encourage me at one time or another. My author brand, Overcoming the Odds, was inspired by the video to Mandisa’s “Overcomer.” May I have your permission to add a link to your blog on my resources page? Thank you for blessing me this evening!
Music and scripture are great ways to lift our spirits.
Powerful message Sister, thank you also for the list of songs! God Bless
Stephen- thank you!
Thanks, Julie. We all deal with discouragement and pity parties. I love your list of songs. I’m praying for you and for this young man battling cancer. My dad had stage 4 colon cancer.
“We might not see a better way in the mess, but God has a way and sees a plan.”
Amen!
Beautiful post! I can so relate to looking at myself and my own demise and feeling like God has left me. Then I look at someone else who is struggling far more than I am, still smiling and shining joy. It’s a humbling experience. I’m currently reading the book, Daring to Hope, by Katie Davis Majors. A woman who followed God to Uganda and adopted 13 or more orphans and is helping the people of this place to survive, learn a trade, support and lead a ministry to educate and feed children. Her story is amazing, but also quite heartbreaking. It’s incredible the heartache she experiences as she ministers to the people of Uganda; then I look at myself and my worries here in the states and realize I have nothing to fear. If God can carry her through the suffering she faces, well, He can sure carry me. 🙂 Thank you for your story, Julie!
Wow, you certainly picked some of my favorite song for your list. They all are great for offering us encouragement. Thanks
Yes, God is for us. Not always easy to remember or believe. This is an encouraging post and these are great songs. Just Be Held is a fave in this list. Another good one is Greater Things by Mack Brock.
Thanks for such a great playlist. It’s hard sometimes to see the one who’s succeeding in keeping a great attitude through difficulty when we are not. They are an encouragement to us to tell us that, with God’s help, we can pull through too.
I love all these songs, Julie, especially Oceans! The idea of keeping my eyes on God above the waves is so powerful. Life throws us storms, but God is always there with us.
Love this encouragement in the midst of a discouraging summer.
Great Post Sister and these are amazing songs, I have listened to most of them but will definitely check out the ones I don’t know. God Bless!!!
You certainly have some of my favorites on the list. Thanks for putting such an encouraging list together to help us. Music does wonders for the soul.
I love your tweets and the songs. So encouraging!
Ava- thank you!
What a beautiful encouragement. I love “Oceans.” I also loved when you said, “What God tells us, how He loves us, and His constancy in our lives will never change.” Amen! What a safe place to know that though my moods can change, He never changes. He is faithful. He is. Thank you, Julie!
I love that God calls Himself I AM. He is and always was and always will be. And He never changes.
So amazing to ponder. Such a great God to trust.
Nancy- it’s amazing to ponder!
“Oceans” fills me soul to overflowing every time! (Pun almost intended!)
Thank you for sharing this! The story in the coffeeshop made me cry, too. Words needed during a rough time, for sure! And, you provided a play list of all of these encouraging songs. God bless!