7 Ways to Find Joy in Difficult Seasons
You're not starting from scratch, even though it might feel that way. If you're reading this during a season that feels heavy, uncertain, or broken, you should know something important: joy is still possible for you. Not the forced, fake happiness that well-meaning people sometimes suggest, but real, sustainable joy that can coexist with grief, uncertainty, and the messy process of rebuilding your life.
The silence that often accompanies difficult seasons can feel deafening. Friends may not know what to say, prayer might feel distant, and the spiritual practices that once brought comfort might feel empty or forced. In these quiet, uncertain spaces, it's easy to believe that joy is something that happens to other people - those with easier lives, stronger faith, or fewer complications.
This blog is designed as a gentle guide to small, grace-filled practices that can help joy bloom again in your heart and life. These aren't quick fixes or magical solutions, but practical ways to create space for God's peace and hope to take root during seasons of rebuilding and recovery.
1. Start Small -- With One Honest Prayer
Joy often begins in the most unlikely place: complete honesty with God about where you really are. When we try to pray "properly" or present ourselves to God as more put-together than we actually feel, we create distance in the very relationship that could bring healing and hope. God already knows the depth of your pain, confusion, or exhaustion - He's waiting for you to bring Him your real heart, not a cleaned-up version.
Your first step toward rediscovering joy might be as simple as one honest sentence: "Lord, I want to find joy again." These seven words acknowledge both your current struggle and your desire for something better. They don't pretend you're fine when you're not, and they don't demand immediate change that feels impossible.
The Power of Authentic Prayer
Authentic prayer creates space for authentic healing. When you tell God exactly how you feel - angry, disappointed, confused, tired, or numb - you're not shocking Him or disappointing Him. You're finally being real in the relationship that matters most. This honesty becomes the foundation for genuine spiritual connection rather than performative religious activity.
You might pray, "God, I'm angry about what happened," or "I don't understand why this is my life," or "I feel so alone right now." These raw, honest prayers often connect us to God more powerfully than perfectly worded requests because they come from authentic places in our hearts.
How the Glory Prayer Box Supports Honest Prayer
The Premier Glory Prayer Box provides a gentle, non-intimidating space for these raw, honest moments with God. The beautiful journal included in the box feels safe for writing prayers you might never speak aloud - doubts, fears, anger, or deep sadness that needs somewhere to go.
The scripture cards in the prayer box can provide words when you don't have them. Sometimes reading God's promises about His love, faithfulness, or presence can help you formulate prayers when your own words feel stuck or inadequate. The cards serve as conversation starters with God rather than requirements for perfect prayer.
The physical act of writing prayers and placing them in the prayer box creates a tangible way to release burdens you can't carry alone. You're literally taking concerns out of your mind and heart and putting them somewhere that represents God's care and capability.
The prayer box doesn't promise instant answers or immediate relief, but it provides a consistent place to meet with God honestly, even when that honesty feels messy or incomplete. This consistency, over time, creates space for joy to slowly return as you experience God's faithfulness in small, daily ways.
2. Dress for the Day You Want to Have
What you wear affects how you feel about yourself and how you approach your day, especially during difficult seasons when everything else feels uncertain or out of control. When you're struggling emotionally or spiritually, getting dressed might feel like a small victory, and choosing clothing that reflects your faith can become a quiet act of hope and defiance against despair.
Wearing faith-based clothing isn't about putting on a fake spiritual front or pretending you're more together than you feel. Instead, it's about surrounding yourself with visual reminders of who you are in God's eyes, even when your circumstances suggest otherwise.
The Psychology of Intentional Dressing
During difficult seasons, it's easy to default to clothing that reflects how you feel inside - dark, shapeless, or uninspiring. While comfort is important, especially when you're dealing with grief or stress, there's also power in occasionally choosing clothing that reflects who you're becoming rather than where you currently are.
Premier Glory Wear's faith-based tees, like the "Praying Mom Periodt" shirt, serve as wearable affirmations that remind you of your spiritual identity and calling. When you put on a shirt that declares your faith, you're making a quiet statement of hope - to yourself and to others - that God is still part of your story.
More Than Clothing - Confidence Wrapped in Truth
These faith-based tees function as more than fashion choices; they're confidence wrapped in scripture and spiritual truth. Every time you catch a glimpse of yourself in a mirror, car window, or reflection, you're reminded that you're loved, chosen, and not alone in your struggles.
The message on your shirt can serve as a conversation starter with God throughout your day. When you see "Praying Mom" or another faith message, it might prompt you to actually pray in that moment - a quick thank you, a request for help, or simply an acknowledgment of God's presence.
Other people will also notice what you're wearing, which can create opportunities for encouragement. Fellow Christians might approach you with words of support, or your shirt might serve as a gentle witness to others who are also struggling and need to see that faith is still alive and active in real people's lives.
During seasons when you don't feel particularly strong or spiritual, wearing clothing that declares your faith can help you step into that identity rather than waiting to feel worthy of it. You're reminding yourself that your spiritual identity isn't based on your current emotional state but on God's unchanging love for you.
👉 Click here to order your Praying Mother T-shirt today!
3. Make Room for Moments of Quiet
In our noisy, constantly connected world, silence can feel uncomfortable or even scary, especially during difficult seasons when quiet moments might allow painful thoughts or emotions to surface. However, intentional silence - time without phones, noise, or distractions - often becomes the space where God's peace and presence can be most clearly felt.
Making room for quiet doesn't require long periods of time or perfect conditions. Even five to ten minutes of intentional silence can create space for your nervous system to calm down, your thoughts to settle, and your heart to reconnect with God's presence.
Creating Sacred Silence
Choose a comfortable spot in your home where you can sit without being interrupted. This might be a chair by a window, a corner of your bedroom, or even your car parked in a quiet location. The important thing is consistency - returning to the same space helps signal to your mind and body that it's time to slow down and connect spiritually.
During these quiet moments, you don't need to do anything specific or productive. Simply sitting in God's presence, breathing deeply, and allowing yourself to be still can be profoundly healing and restorative. This isn't about emptying your mind or achieving a particular spiritual state - it's about creating space for whatever God wants to do in your heart.
You might use this time to hold one of the scripture cards from your Glory Prayer Box, not necessarily reading it analytically but simply letting the truth soak into your spirit. Or you might write briefly in the prayer journal, capturing whatever thoughts or feelings surface during the silence.
Using the Prayer Box During Quiet Time
The Glory Prayer Box materials are perfectly designed for enhancing moments of quiet reflection. The cozy socks included in the box help create a physical transition into rest and spiritual connection. When you put them on, you're signaling to yourself that it's time to slow down and focus on spiritual rather than practical concerns.
The beautiful presentation of the prayer box items helps make quiet time feel special and valued rather than like another obligation. When your spiritual materials are lovely and well-organized, you're more likely to prioritize and protect time for using them.
The journal provides a place to capture insights, prayers, or simply honest thoughts that arise during quiet moments. Sometimes the most profound spiritual breakthroughs happen not during elaborate prayer times but during simple moments of silence when God can speak to hearts that are finally still enough to listen.
👉 Click here to order your Glory Prayer Box today!
4. Practice Gratitude (Even for the Tiny Things)
When you're walking through difficult seasons, gratitude can feel forced, fake, or even offensive. How can you be grateful when you're grieving, struggling, or facing circumstances you never wanted? The key is understanding that gratitude during hard times isn't about pretending everything is fine or denying real problems. Instead, it's about training your heart to notice God's goodness even in the midst of genuine difficulty.
Joy grows when we develop the ability to see and appreciate small blessings, even when larger circumstances remain challenging. This doesn't minimize your pain or suggest that positive thinking will solve serious problems. Rather, it acknowledges that God's goodness often shows up in tiny, daily ways even during the most difficult seasons of life.
Starting Small with Gratitude
Begin by noticing genuinely small things that bring even momentary comfort or pleasure: morning coffee that tastes especially good, sunshine streaming through your window, a text from a friend who cares, or simply having a comfortable bed to sleep in at night.
These micro-gratitudes aren't meant to fix everything that's wrong, but they can serve as tiny anchors of hope on days that otherwise feel overwhelming. When you notice and acknowledge these small gifts, you're training your heart to see evidence of God's care even when bigger prayers remain unanswered.
You might start by identifying just one small thing each day that you can genuinely appreciate. Write it down in your prayer journal or on one of the cards from your Glory Prayer Box. Over time, these small acknowledgments of goodness can begin to shift your overall perspective, not by denying difficulty but by creating space for joy to coexist with struggle.
Building Gratitude Practices
Daily gratitude notes - Write one thing you're grateful for each day, no matter how small. These notes become seeds of hope that you can return to during particularly dark moments.
Gratitude prayers - Include thanks in your regular prayers, even when the gratitude feels tiny compared to your requests for help. "God, thank you for getting me through today, even though it was hard."
Sharing gratitude - Tell family members or friends about small things you've noticed and appreciated. Speaking gratitude aloud often amplifies its impact on your own heart and can encourage others who are also struggling.
The scripture cards in your Glory Prayer Box can help prompt gratitude by reminding you of God's character and promises. When you read about His faithfulness, love, or provision, you might begin to notice ways those truths are evident in your current circumstances, even in small ways.
5. Keep Scripture Close to You
During difficult seasons, our emotions and circumstances can feel more real and powerful than God's promises. Having scripture physically present in your daily environment provides constant reminders of spiritual truth that can anchor your heart when everything else feels unstable.
This isn't about using Bible verses as magic formulas or pretending that scripture eliminates real problems. Instead, it's about surrounding yourself with reminders of God's character, love, and faithfulness so that His truth remains accessible even when your feelings suggest otherwise.
Making Scripture Visible
Place meaningful verses where you'll encounter them naturally throughout your day. Write encouraging scriptures on sticky notes for your bathroom mirror, car dashboard, or kitchen windowsill. Set Bible verses as phone wallpapers or computer backgrounds. Include scripture cards in your purse or work bag for moments when you need encouragement away from home.
The goal isn't to memorize large amounts of scripture or impress others with your biblical knowledge. Instead, you're creating an environment where God's truth is readily available to comfort, encourage, and redirect your thoughts when they spiral toward despair or anxiety.
Choose verses that speak specifically to struggles you're currently facing rather than generic encouraging scriptures. If you're dealing with fear, focus on verses about God's protection and peace. If you're feeling alone, emphasize scriptures about God's presence and care. If you're questioning your worth, surround yourself with verses about God's love and your identity in Christ.
The Glory Prayer Box Scripture Support
The scripture cards included in the Glory Prayer Box are specifically chosen to help mum. These beautiful cards make it easy to keep encouraging truth visible and accessible throughout your day. You can carry these cards with you for moments when you need immediate spiritual encouragement, place them in locations where you'll see them regularly, or use them during prayer and reflection time to focus your heart on God's truth rather than overwhelming circumstances.
The quality and beauty of the scripture cards also matter - when spiritual resources are lovely and well-made, you're more likely to value and use them consistently. The cards feel special rather than disposable, encouraging you to treat God's truth with the reverence and attention it deserves. Wearing faith-based clothing like Premier Glory Wear's tees provides another way to keep scripture and spiritual truth close to your heart and body throughout the day. The message on your shirt serves as a constant, wearable reminder of your spiritual identity and God's promises.
👉 Click here to order your Glory Prayer Box today!
6. Speak Life Over Yourself
The words you speak to and about yourself have tremendous power to shape your emotional state, spiritual health, and overall perspective on your circumstances. During difficult seasons, it's easy to fall into patterns of negative self-talk that compound your struggles and make recovery more difficult.
Speaking life over yourself isn't about positive thinking or denying real problems. Instead, it's about choosing to align your internal dialogue with God's truth about who you are and what He's doing in your life, even when your circumstances suggest otherwise.
Replacing Destructive Thoughts
Pay attention to the stories you tell yourself about your situation, your worth, your future, and your relationship with God. Many women unconsciously repeat thoughts like "I'm not strong enough," "God must be disappointed in me," "I'll never get through this," or "I'm a failure."
These destructive thought patterns often feel true in the moment, but they don't align with what God says about you or your circumstances. Speaking life over yourself means consciously choosing to replace these lies with biblical truth, even when the truth doesn't feel emotionally accurate yet.
Simple affirmations based on scripture can begin to reshape your internal dialogue: "God is with me," "This is not the end of my story," "I am loved and chosen," "God will provide what I need," or "My hope is in the Lord."
Practical Life-Speaking Strategies
Morning declarations - Start your day by speaking one positive, faith-based truth over yourself before you engage with news, social media, or other external pressures.
Mirror conversations - Look yourself in the eye while brushing your teeth or getting ready and speak kindly to yourself, the way you would encourage a beloved friend facing similar struggles.
Evening affirmations - End your day by acknowledging one way you saw God's faithfulness or one way you demonstrated strength, even if the day felt difficult overall.
Visual Reminders to Speak Life
Premier Glory Wear's faith-based tees serve as powerful visual reminders to speak life over yourself, especially on your hardest days. When you see "Praying Mom" or another faith message in your reflection, it can prompt you to speak truth over your circumstances rather than agreeing with negative thoughts.
The shirt becomes a conversation starter with yourself - when you see the faith message, you might take a moment to pray, speak encouragement over your situation, or simply remember that your identity is rooted in God's love rather than your current circumstances.
These visual reminders are especially important during seasons when you don't feel particularly strong or spiritual. The shirt reminds you that your spiritual identity exists independently of your current emotional state, and it encourages you to speak from that identity rather than from your feelings.
7. Lean Into Hope, Not Perfection
Perhaps the most important thing to understand about finding joy during difficult seasons is that you don't need to have everything figured out or perfectly together to experience God's goodness and peace. Hope isn't about having perfect circumstances or complete understanding - it's about trusting that God is still good and still working, even when you can't see evidence of His activity.
God meets you in the mess, the rebuilding, the questions, and the uncertainty. He doesn't require you to clean up your life, fix your problems, or strengthen your faith before He'll show up with comfort and help. His presence is available to you exactly as you are, in whatever condition you find yourself.
Embracing Imperfect Progress
Recovery and rebuilding happen gradually, often in ways that feel frustratingly slow or inconsistent. Some days you'll feel stronger and more hopeful. Other days you'll feel like you're starting over again. This uneven progress is normal and doesn't indicate failure or lack of faith.
Allow yourself to have bad days without interpreting them as evidence that you're not making progress or that joy will never return. Healing happens in layers, and each difficult day teaches you something about your own resilience and God's faithfulness that contributes to long-term growth and restoration.
Celebrate small victories and moments of progress, even when they feel insignificant compared to the work that remains. Did you get through a particularly hard day? That's worth acknowledging. Did you choose hope over despair in one small moment? That matters. Did you reach out for help when you needed it? That takes courage worth celebrating.
Tools for the Journey, Not Quick Fixes
The Glory Prayer Box and Premier Glory Wear's faith-based apparel aren't magic solutions that will instantly transform your circumstances or eliminate your struggles. They're simply tools designed to support and encourage you during the gradual process of healing and rebuilding.
The prayer box provides a beautiful, consistent place to meet with God during your journey, but it won't force breakthroughs or guarantee specific outcomes. The faith-based tee serves as a daily reminder of your spiritual identity, but it won't prevent difficult days or challenging circumstances.
What these tools can do is provide gentle, consistent support as you take small steps toward hope and healing. They remove barriers to spiritual connection, provide practical resources for processing your struggles, and create reminders that you're not alone in your journey.
👉 Click here to order your Glory Prayer Box today!
Conclusion
Rebuilding takes time, patience, and tremendous courage. Joy often returns in pieces rather than all at once - a moment of laughter that surprises you, a sense of peace that catches you off guard, or a glimpse of hope that you thought was gone forever. These small resurrections of joy are precious and worth celebrating, even when the larger work of healing continues.
You don't have to rush your process or pretend to be further along than you actually are. God honors authentic struggle and gradual progress much more than performed strength or fake positivity. Your willingness to keep showing up, keep praying, and keep believing that joy is possible demonstrates remarkable faith, even when that faith feels weak or uncertain.
The seven practices we've explored aren't requirements for earning God's love or guarantees that your circumstances will change quickly. They're simply gentle ways to create space for God's peace, hope, and presence to take root in your heart during seasons of uncertainty and rebuilding.
