Life is hard. We all go through seasons of struggle, enduring difficult times that God allows us to experience. Scripture says to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials”—not “if,” but “when” (James 1:2).
In fact, we are not to simply experience difficulties—God encourages us to find joy in them, because they begin a chain reaction that can bring us to spiritual maturity: “tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3–4). We are guaranteed to have discomfort in our lives, but God also gives us a purpose for pain, “knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:3–4).
With these benefits, it is no wonder that the Apostle Paul tells us to “glory in tribulations” (Romans 5:3). We all need perseverance as we struggle, we all need strength to form God’s very character in us, and we all need to develop rock-solid hope—and suffering is an essential tool that God uses to build these qualities in our lives.
But, while we know we should surrender our pain to God as we endure our seasons of struggle, we are often tempted to give our pain to Satan instead. The Devil controls the culture and industries of this world (Ephesians 2:2), and those industries are incentivized to extend our bad days into bad months, or even bad years.
In her recent book GIRLS®: Generation Z and the Commodification of Everything, Freya India sums up today’s toxic landscape: “a beauty industry that thrives on our self-loathing; a wellness industry that relies on our stress and anxiety; a pharmaceutical industry that needs our distress and diagnoses; a dating industry that depends on our dissatisfaction and continuous swiping; a porn industry that profits from our objectification; a consumer culture that cashes in on our search for identity and belonging. Our despair and disempowerment,” she notes, “are worth billions” (pp. 11–12, 2026).
These industries have the most to gain from us if we run to them to escape our pain, viewing it as something to be avoided at all costs, lest we be shattered like teacups. It is easier for them to capture, hold, and profit from our attention if we are stagnant in our trials—in fact, the worse our suffering becomes, the more profitable we are to them. If we are not careful, we can allow Satan’s systems to use our pain, taking us down a path of decreasing mental strength and increasing mental anguish.
But, with God’s help, we do not have to be like teacups. As we allow Him to work with us, we react to suffering more and more like muscle—growing stronger when broken down. When we face a time of struggle, we have a choice: let Satan and his world use our pain, or surrender our pain to God for our growth. One path leads to weakening and greater pain, the other to strength and, ultimately, deliverance.
How can you ensure that God will use your seasons of struggle for your growth? Here are a few practical tips.
Prioritize Your Time with God
When God told Joshua to lead the children of Israel after Moses’ death (Joshua 1:1–2), He gave him no easy task—imagine being asked to replace someone who had repeatedly feared for his life! Thankfully, Joshua didn’t have an opportunity to go down a social media rabbit hole and watch a video called “5 Reasons Your Trauma from Egypt Will Make You a Bad Leader of Israel.” Instead, Joshua heard from God, “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed” (Joshua 1:9).
The word translated “dismayed” here can also mean “shattered” or “broken down with fear.” Sometimes we feel that way—that we have been shattered and broken, that we have been completely defeated by life and there is no hope. God told Joshua to defy this hopeless feeling, reminding him that “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (v. 9). God is with you, too, as you face the struggles of your life. He empowers you to be strong, not shattered.
The same God who encouraged Joshua that day also told His disciples to “be of good cheer” when facing tribulations—because He overcame the world, and through God’s Spirit we have access to the same power to overcome (John 16:33; Ephesians 3:16). Satan wants us to forget that God is with us, because he knows that, if we do, we will inevitably allow ourselves to become his prey.
And unless we are consistently paying attention to God, it is all too easy to forget that He is with us. What kind of attention do you give to God each day? A quick glance at a Bible app before you go back to scrolling or gaming? Or do you prioritize your time with Him—putting it first, far above this world’s diversions?
Some find that early mornings make the best time for focused Bible study, longer prayer, and meditation. Others find midday or evening more suitable, and some use more than one part of the day. We all operate on different schedules and function according to specific biological needs, but we can all set aside specific, planned time each day to give God our focused attention. In a world constantly vying for our attention, we must guard the time we spend with Him. If we do, and if we never forget that He is on our side, we will be unstoppable in our quest to build mental strength (Romans 8:31).
Orient Your Life to Help Others
When we are hurting, we are naturally inclined to focus inwardly—yet studies show that “too much self-focused attention is linked with more negative thinking and a higher risk of anxiety and depression” (“Lending a Helping Hand: Doing Good Deeds is Good Medicine for Mood and Memory,” Harvard Health Publishing, October 1, 2023).
God encourages outreach and gives rewards for it: “If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail” (Isaiah 58:10–11).
When we are in the midst of suffering, we ache to our very core, longing for our souls to be satisfied and our bones to be strengthened. If you turn your lens outward, to those needing help, you can rely on God’s promise to refresh you—and even your worst days of darkness can be filled with His light.
As we shift our focus toward others, we by necessity shift it away from self, resisting the world’s mentality of self-promotion. As social media grew through the 2010s, it became commonplace for people to build and promote their public images with the fervor of a professional marketing team. Now, vacation spots are often chosen for the “content” to be captured. Visits to landmarks often revolve around the best lighting. Even moments as intimate as marriage proposals are frequently repeated several times to ensure the camera angle is “correct.”
The Pharisees had much in common with this aspect of modern society. Christ corrected them intensely, noting that “all their works they do to be seen by men” (Matthew 23:5). They were obsessed with being admired—focused on their outward appearance rather than on improving themselves inwardly.
What about us? Do we do our deeds to be seen by others? It can be difficult to identify our true motivations for posting and sharing, so we must remember what Christ told the Pharisees: “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). As you strive to orient yourself toward others, be willing to savor your time with them without the distraction of strangers’ opinions. Many moments are better left uncaptured, treasured only in the memories of those who were there. More importantly, refrain from marketing yourself and focus instead on inward growth.
Gain Strength Together as a Family
God gave mankind the family unit as the fundamental building block of society, and a godly family dynamic is a bulwark against the onslaught of Satan’s culture. God expects parents to pass His way of life on to future generations (Deuteronomy 6:6–7). This includes teaching children how to navigate life’s trials.
It’s easy to allow TV, social media, video games, and the busyness of life to leave us with no time to “walk by the way” with one another. Social media promised to connect us, but left out the risks of losing in-person connection with our closest family and friends. A 2024 study suggested that parents who spent an average of more than one hour per day with their children in “joint activities (e.g., play board games, go for a walk, talk about things)” reduced teen alcohol, smoking, gambling, and addictive social media use (I. Koning and C. Voogt, “Adolescents Spending Time with Their Parents: Does It Matter?,” Youth, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 556–566).
This strengthening goes both ways. Seasons of struggle aren’t limited to adolescence! We should reach across generational gaps to encourage and help our parents, grandparents, children, and grandchildren through these seasons. Struggles do not have to divide your family: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). In fact, if you resolve to stand together against the temptation to stagnate when trials come, your family can grow closer than ever.
You can overcome whatever hardships you are facing. Whatever season of struggle you find yourself in, you can get through it with God’s help—and, what’s more, you will become stronger as you do so. May God use the seasons of struggle in your life to produce mental strength. May He “perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).
You are alive at an exciting yet challenging time in history. Will you give your pain to Satan and his world to extend your trials and prevent growth? Or will you give it to God and allow Him to develop your mental strength?