4 Uplifting Instagram Accounts To Help Rekindle Your Trust In God
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto
During a recent chat with a co-worker friend, she shared the news that she and her family had finalized the deal for renting a house. She was bubbling with excitement. In that moment, it struck me how refreshing it was to hear someone thrilled about a new life development.
It feels like everyone I encounter usually answers the question, “How are you?” with “tired,” “busy,” or “frustrated.” I’m guilty of these trite responses too.
Good things happen every day, yet it seems like society is weighed down with heaviness. Depression and anxiety appear to be a national plague, especially in the wake of the Covid pandemic and shutdowns.
Why is everyone seemingly battling for energy and optimism? Is it simply human nature to focus more on our difficulties than on our joys? That’s likely part of it.
Maybe it’s because modern technology allows us to be in touch with people all over the globe and so we are more aware of distant disasters. Maybe it’s because people are so mobile and our social networks are ever-increasing and expanding and consequently, we simply know more people and hear of their problems.
Whatever the cause, talk to anyone for more than five minutes, and a story of a trial or hardship is likely to come up. Turn on the news and be bombarded with salacious stories of violence and corruption. Again, is there actually more suffering in the world nowadays or are we just hyper-conscious of it because twenty-first-century living allows us to be?
In any case, these ostensibly relentless struggles, whether experienced firsthand or from a distance, can give us the feeling of fumbling vainly to emerge from beneath a heavily weighted blanket that is crushing instead of comforting us.
No doubt, life is full of beauty, merriment, and light. It’s a bittersweet journey we are traveling. “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid,” says author and theologian Frederick Buechner.
When the bad feels like it’s overpowering the good, when we are grappling with loneliness, heartache, loss, confusion, and uncertainty, we naturally look to something outside of and bigger than ourselves for perspective, encouragement, and hope.
I personally have found the following four Instagram accounts to be sources of comfort and hope for me. May they be little beacons of light for you as well.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
This woman-run and woman-oriented ministry offers Bible studies, prayers, and words of understanding and encouragement for women going through the frustrations, joys, and disappointments that come in all seasons of life.
TrustGodBro
TrustGodBro proffers pithy reminders of God’s goodness, faithfulness, and providence as well as short prayers and reminders to continue to flex our spiritual muscles in order to grow in faith and in trust of God. Almost every post contains a series of slides on a single theme with the last slide saying “Comment ‘Amen’ if you agree,” thereby inviting everyone who reads it to claim it as a personal prayer and affirmation.
Fruitful Girl
Fruitful Girl shares concise, uplifting content as well as faith-filled prayers and reminders that God sees you, loves you, and knows your heart, your fears, needs, and desires. Reading this account’s posts can help you to recenter yourself on God when your head and heart start to whirl with stress and worry.
Blessed Is She
Blessed Is She is a women’s ministry in the Catholic tradition that shares meditations, prayers, educational trivia about saints’ lives, and many other materials to support your spirit. Whether you are Catholic or not, this is a lovely source to which you can turn for encouragement in living a Godly life.
Lastly, the Litany of Trust prayer, composed by Sr. Faustina Maria Pia, SV of the Sisters of Life, is a favorite of mine when insecurities and worries assert their pernicious tentacles. This prayer is an invitation to claim the truth that God is beside us in the trenches of life, that He will deliver us from our fears, and that we can place our trust in Him.
In short…
In the end, it doesn’t matter whether our trials are big or small, temporary or seemingly never-ending. Sometimes all we need to rekindle a guttering light of hope and to soothe troubled spirits is a gentle nudge to rely on God’s love or a quiet reminder that we are “worth more than many sparrows” and “even the hairs of our head are counted” (Matthew 10:30-31).
