When you have lived in a state of anxiety due to a crisis or living in an unsafe environment, it takes a lot of effort to move into a new state of being at peace. Calm feels dangerous! Lack of stress feels boring! Having nothing to worry about feels very irresponsible! And I am talking to you, Christians.

Anxiety is not just emotional, it is a physical condition. When you live in a constant state of flight or fight, it begins to feel abnormally normal. Like any habit, your brain won’t let go of those chemicals easily. You will feel uncomfortable when things are not chaotic. You will feel uneasy when you aren’t needed to put out fires. You will start looking for problems, drama, things that need fixing. You might start to wonder why you can’t relax like other people.

It’s because your body is working against your desire to relax. It is telling you that relaxing is dangerous! Bad things could happen at any moment! Your body has upregulated it’s adrenaline level to danger status. But you can change that, with God’s help.

Ask me how I know…. Yeah, my life has been so stressful that now that things are somewhat settling down into a routine, not my favorite routine, I feel very uncomfortable. I am bored! I am looking for things to do that make me feel energized. I should be enjoying not having a lot to do, but I am so restless. But this is not healthy. I have to make myself go through these withdrawals. I have to remember how to not be in a constant state of being on call, on guard, on watch, on adrenaline.

Many people who suffered in many different ways from the Covid pandemic reaction are also stuck in this anxiety state. You don’t know how to go on with your life. You lost loved ones, or you have long Covid, or you lost your business. Life feels dangerous. You are still listening to the doom podcasts and videos that you discovered during Covid. You need to stop thinking about all that and turn back to God.

God gave me a verse yesterday and he confirmed it today at the end of a sermon that I just happened to listen to: James 4:8. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. I felt better immediately when I thought of this verse and turned to God in prayer. I mean noticeably different, like a weight was lifted, because I was looking at my Father instead of myself.

But then the anxiety tried to creep back later and I felt guilty. Today God showed me that I don’t need to beat myself up for struggling with the after-effects of Grace’s hospital crisis. It is a normal reaction to extreme stress. Things could always get crazy again, but God doesn’t want me to live in a state of constant anxiety, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

God isn’t trying to guilt me about my anxiety. He is showing me that I can let go of it because, as I have written so many times, I CAN TRUST HIM. He is reminding me again! “Hey, you’ve been through a lot. But I was with you always. You are okay. You are safe. You always were. I love you. Turn back to Me.”

Isn’t God good?! He is not angry at you, Christian friend, for your fears and struggles with anxiety and addiction to the effects of constant stress. He is calling you back to Him right now. Beware of hearing the wrong tone when you read the Bible. God knows we are weak. He loves us! He wants us to be free from anxiety. But He knows that our fleshly bodies get hooked on it. Some of us came out of the womb with physical anxiety due to our mother’s hormones or genes or we developed it as a child due to a chaotic family situation. God knows this and wants to free us!

We have to become aware that we are stuck in anxiety mode and TURN to Him and ask for his help to remember how to relax and trust Him. He will help us. But be aware that the Devil will do everything he can to make you forget to stop and ask God for help. So do it right now!

Dear God, I pray that anyone who is struggling with anxiety, PTSD, worrying, or fear will ask you right now for help. I pray that You will show them that they don’t have to listen to their physical symptoms and that You will bring peace into their hearts and bodies so that they will glorify You. I pray that you will give me and them hope and faith and help us all to live day by day trusting you for all things, even in the midst of trials, seeking your kingdom and seeking to know YOU.