In other words, instead of wrestling with a vague sense of hopelessness, try to figure out where it’s coming from—because your problem isn’t hopelessness. The real problem is what’s causing your hopelessness.

In Jonah 2:3-6, we discover eight common causes of hopelessness. Take a look and see if any of these root issues feel familiar.

1. You feel like you’re in over your head. “You threw me into the ocean depths” (Jonah 2:3 NLT).
2. You’ve hit the bottom. “I sank down to the heart of the sea” (Jonah 2:3 NLT).
3. You feel out of control and powerless. “I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves” (Jonah 2:3 NLT).
4. You feel overwhelmed. “The mighty waters engulfed me” (Jonah 2:3 NLT).
5. You feel rejected. “O Lord, you have driven me from your presence” (Jonah 2:4 NLT).
6. You feel remorse and regret. “I thought I had been banished from your presence and would never see your holy Temple again” (Jonah 2:4 GNT).
7. You feel crushing fear. “I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head” (Jonah 2:5 NLT).
8. You feel trapped. “I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!” (Jonah 2:6 NLT).

When Jonah started talking to God about his hopelessness, God began to heal him. “When my life was slipping away, I remembered you—and in your holy temple you heard my prayer” (Jonah 2:7 CEV).

Talk to God about your sense of hopelessness. He is the God of hope, and through Jesus, he offers the only real and lasting hope you can find.