Reboot

When you feel down, it's easy to let negative thoughts pull you deeper into the dark. Continually letting people and circumstances define your worth, condemning and punishing your own failures, and comparing yourself to others will drag you down even faster. You'll lose your God–given identity imitating those who look successful, and replace it with a bitter shadow judging those who don't.

When people, circumstances, or your own thinking try to redefine your identity, remember who God says you are. I know that seems simplistic and hokey, but it's actually powerful and profound.

Right now, stop where you are. Take a deep breath. Relax your shoulders. Begin by finding one good thing in your life you're grateful for. See something positive about yourself. Recognize one way God has shown you His love. Now say them out loud. Even if you're at work and have to do it quietly, speak aloud.

Thank God for another good thing. And another. Let those positive thoughts lead you to others even more powerful, until they begin to overwhelm the hold of all the dark ones. Let each thought of God's love for you become a step out of the valley you're in. Praise Him from the depths of your heart until you can fly out of here.

Let these scriptures give your heart and mind a reboot:

"I am the Lord who heals you and makes you whole" (Exodus 15:26).

"You are my greatest treasure" (Deut. 7:6).

"I have come to you so that you may have life, and have it to its fullest" (John 10:10).

"This is the secret: Jesus, the hope of glory, lives in you" (Colossians 1:27).

"If anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation. The old life is gone, and everything has become new! (2 Cor. 5:17).

"You are the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14).

"The cords of death entangled me, and floods of destruction swept over me. In my distress I cried out to the Lord for help. He reached down from heaven and took hold of me. He pulled me out of deep waters, and led me to a place of safety. He rescued me because He delights in me.
You will keep my fire burning, God, and turn darkness into light. With You I can run against an army, and leap over any wall" (from Psalm 18).