When the Darkness Lasts: How to Hold onto Hope in Long Seasons of Discouragement

​I live in Wisconsin, where during the fall and winter, the sun sets early and rises late. The winter solstice in December marks the longest night of the year—15 hours of darkness.

The New Year brings with it lengthening light, but it’s almost imperceptible. Yet little by little, the days get longer, until the summer solstice in June, when there’s over 15 hours of light.

​Between our longest night of the year and our longest day of the year, there’s an over 6 hour difference in the hours of daylight.

​The darkness and light come in seasons, the sun rises and sets day by day, the moon waxes and wanes with the months. Nights become long and the darkness lengthens, but it doesn’t last. Long, cold nights give way to long, warm days.

But what if the darkness does last?

What if, even as a new year and a new day dawn bright with lengthening light, the hard, discouraging season we find ourselves in continues on?

When the hard seasons last long, it’s hard to hold onto hope—the hope that things will get better, that there is good in store for us, that light will dawn and day will break and bring with it the relief, healing, comfort, encouragement, and joy we long for.

In such seasons, when the darkness lasts and we’re discouraged and weary, how do we keep holding onto hope and looking for the light?

Not Without Hope

​We see throughout Scripture and Church history people who walked with God and yet still experienced discouragement, along with anxiety, depression, and God seeming distant.

It’s normal to go through seasons (even looong seasons) that are hard and discouraging. This doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you or with your faith. This doesn’t mean you’re not praying enough, or not memorizing enough Bible verses, or not singing enough worship songs.

We live in a fallen and broken world, and we experience the pain, suffering, and sorrow of this brokenness.

But we don’t experience this brokenness without hope. In John 16:33, Jesus spoke these words of encouragement to His disciples:

​“Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

​In this broken world, we will have hardships, heartaches, and hurt—but we can also have hope, joy, and peace, because Jesus has overcome all brokenness.

Through Christ, God is redeeming the fallen, restoring the broken, and reconciling the imperfect. And one day, all fallenness will be healed, all brokenness will be made whole, and all imperfection will be made new (2 Cor. 5:19; Rev. 21:1-5).

This is why Scripture speaks of persevering in our faith: continuing to trust in our good and faithful Father even when He seems distant; continuing to place our hope in Jesus even when we’re discouraged; continuing to walk in step with the Spirit even when we’re weary—because our hope is assured.

The darkness will not endure. Light has dawned, Light has overcome, and we will live in Light eternal (Is. 9:2; Jn. 1:4-5; Rev. 21:23-24).

But when the darkness does last and we’re weary with discouragement, how do we find the encouragement we need to keep going? How do we find hope anew?

Practices of Hope

​When we’re in a season of discouragement, it can be even more discouraging to feel like we must add more things to the list of things we’re already trying to keep up with, as if we can just will-power our way out of the discouragement by doing more, trying harder, and improving ourselves.

While I don’t want to pile more to-dos on you, as if you’re doing something wrong or not doing enough, I do want to offer these restful, hopeful practices that have been helpful to me—not to-dos that we must check-off, but ways our Father invites us to abide in Him.

Meditate on God’s Promises
As God’s children, we’re not promised a pain-free life of ease. But there are promises our Father does give us, promises that are true even when we’re in a dark season.

He promises:

• to watch over us (Ps. 121)
• to be with us (Ps. 23:4)
• to sustain us (Ps. 55:22)
• to comfort and care for us (2 Cor. 1:3-4; 
• to renew our strength (1 Pet. 5:10)
• to hear and respond to our cries (Ps. 10:17)
• to help us persevere and endure (Col. 1:11)
• and I could name even more!

We can find encouragement and hope in the promises of God because God is faithful to keep all His promises to us. No matter how long the hard season lasts, we can count on Him to stay with us, sustain us, and see us through.

Pray for Renewed Hope
We don’t have to walk through hardships in our own strength. We don’t have to bear the burdens in our own strength. We don’t have to endure dark seasons in our own strength.

In fact, we can’t, because we weren’t made to. We were made for relationship with God in which we depend on Him with full assurance that He will take care of us (Matt. 6:11, 25-33).

God invites us to ask Him for hope, comfort, peace, joy, strength, encouragement, wisdom, help, whatever it is we need (Phil. 4:7), trusting He will “meet all [our] needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19)

Share Your Burdens with Others
As lonely as the discouragement and weariness can feel, we don’t have to bear them alone.

We were made for relationship with God, and we were made for relationships with each other in which we can share in God’s love and care together (Rom. 12:3-21).

Instead of trying in our own strength to carry our burdens alone, let’s share those burdens with trusted, safe, and wise people who will pray for and with us, who will support and encourage us, who will remind us of God’s love and faithfulness, who are willing vessels for God to pour out His goodness and provision into our lives.

And this can include seeking professional help for depression, anxiety, or other illness that could be contributing to the discouragement you’re experiencing.

Give Praise and Thanks
Even as we walk through a dark season, waiting for that light at the end of the tunnel, what promises has God already kept? How is He providing and caring for us in this season? How has He shown Himself good, faithful, and loving?

Praising God for who He is and thanking Him for what He has done reminds our hearts that even in the darkness, God is with us, and even though the tunnel seems to have no end, there is Light that never ends.

Friend, I can’t say when or how or what it will look like, but this dark season will give way to light--because the darkness cannot overcome the Light that holds and enfolds us.