When You’re Battling the Blahs: How to Encourage Yourself in God

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God. Psalm 43:5

From time to time, all of us come down with a case of the “blahs.”

If you’re stuck in a state of low energy and low optimism, the experts have a scientific name for it: you’ve got “The Blahs.” If you’re there now, one expert has a few questions you should ask yourself:

1. “Is there anything in my life that has hit me hard recently? “Give yourself permission to not have to bounce back into high energy and high optimism right at this very moment,” advises a clinical psychologist. Perhaps you’ve lost your job or been hit with a big, unexpected expense. It’s reasonable to spend a day coming to grips with big disappointments, but not days on end.
2. Ask yourself, “Am I in this state for physiological reasons?” For example, are you sleep deprived? Are you overworking? Have you been sitting for too long? These are real conditions that we need to do something about.
3. Ask: “Is it time to wake up my better self? The doctor says, “Do your thing, be bright, be hopeful, be action oriented.”[1] But if you need something stronger than a self-pep talk, consider what a man named David did. David had a serious case of the blahs. He had been running from a murderer for 13 years. He was “ … greatly distressed … but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6 KJV excerpted).

Here is David’s self-talk; he says, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God” (Psalm 43:5). David knew that God is “ … our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

Even in the blahs, God wants to be your hope too.

[1] Making Life Better with Dr. Wes. “How to Beat the Blahs.” YouTube, 20 Sept. 2024, https://youtu.be/O0TGeNytSfE?feature=shared. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.