Messages app frozen with grayed out favorites pictures

I was having problems with my messages app. The favorites pictures were grayed out and the app was frozen. I did all basic troubleshooting. Closed app and reopen, pressed volume up, down, press and hold power until I see the Apple logo, I turned iMessage off and back on, reset network settings. None of that worked. What did work was me pressing and holding the messages app and selecting new message. It opened up a new message. I sent a message to myself and then it suddenly started working again. Hope this helps someone