Nav

Insights by Topic

Encouragement & HealingFind comforting words for current struggles

In the classic allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress, the main character, Christian, tumbles into the miry bog, the “slough of despond,” and struggles to get free. But the heavy burden on his back pulls him in deeper, and he begins to sink.

This image pictures what it feels like when we’re sinking in difficult circumstances—when our debts outweigh our income, when past hurts won’t heal, when discontentment marks our relationships, and when the light of heaven seems distant and dim. Discouragement, despondency, pain, suffering—these miry pits along life’s journey can pull us down into our own “slough of despond.”

Christian’s rescue came by the hand of a fellow traveler named Help . . . and the same is true for you today. Use these resources to find encouragement and healing for your own life . . . or to minister help to those you find along life’s journey.

 

Featured resources

  • How to Trust When You're Troubled
    By Pastor Chuck Swindoll

    If you've been carrying a burden for some time and see no relief ahead, learn how to accept from God's hand whatever tool shapes you.

    Read Now
Buy Now

"Hope Beyond Failure: The Broken Man Behind the Book" from the series  Insights on 1 Peter: Hope Again: When Life Hurts and Dreams Fade

(1 Peter)

Become better acquainted with bold, but impulsive, Peter and the first letter he wrote. Learn the overall theme of the letter he wrote to the Christians who were scattered and living as aliens in a hostile and hateful world.

Related audio

Count Your Blessings

Is your neural network processing more negative input than positive these days? Chuck Swindoll has a solution to the "gripes" in this Video Insight.

Loading the player ...

Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude

Purchased MP3 series can be downloaded as a single .zip file that includes all the MP3 messages from the series or separately as individual MP3 files.

The relationships in our lives have great potential for joy. But they also carry with them the risk of strife or discord. At those times when our relationships are most challenged, we require healthy doses of forgiveness and grace. This two-message series from Chuck Swindoll traces the significant biblical themes of forgiveness and grace and reminds us of a pair of God’s gifts we can all be thankful for in any relationship.

CD or MP3 Set of 2 messages

Product Code: GGGDST/GGGMST

Messages in this series:

  1. Giving Thanks for God’s Forgiveness
  2. Giving Thanks for God’s Grace

Copyright © 2011, ℗ 2012 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.

This Insight for Living production is for your personal use only. Civil and criminal copyright infringement occurs when this production is uploaded to the Internet, publicly performed, copied, or placed on any information storage and retrieval system now known or yet to be invented, without prior written permission from Insight for Living.

Learn More

Read, listen, and learn

Browse through our complete list of products related to Encouragement & Healing to find books, study guides, and more to enhance your learning. Browse all resources.

Related Articles

  • Dependence

    Read these comforting passages for help in learning to depend on the Lord more easily. Whatever your needs are today, there's comfort in His Word.

  • Encouragement Takes the Sting Out of Life

    Who needs regular encouragement? All of us. Who’s equipped to encourage others? All of us! Chuck Swindoll gives some ideas for putting encouragement into action.

  • How God Gives You Wisdom

    All Christians want to grow in wisdom and maturity, right? But what if the path that leads there traverses through pain and trials?

  • Letting Go, Looking Up

    Accepting life as it is"embracing reality"is foundational to how we experience life. Hear one author's view of what you gain after finding acceptance.

  • Needed Today: A Ministry of Encouragement

    Chuck Swindoll focuses on the need for encouragement within the church and gives several examples of ways to encourage others, using Barnabas’s example.

  • Seven Impossibilities Jesus Made Possible

    Have an impossibility in your life? Read about seven miracles that displayed Jesus’ astonishing power over things that can stump us—then take heart.

  • The Benefits of Breakdowns

    David’s comforting psalms, which we recite and put to music to this day, came at a price in his life. Find strength for your painful times.

  • Why God Shakes Your Spiritual Tightrope

    Life events can take a turn quickly, forcing us down onto our knees. Does God allow these events on purpose? And if so, why?

  • View More Articles