Part 6: When Anxiety Affects You Physically
Letting God into the physical side of anxiety.
Sometimes anxiety doesn’t show up in your thoughts first.
It starts in your chest.
In your stomach.
In your shoulders.
In the breath that suddenly feels hard to catch.
In the heart that starts racing—and you’re not even sure why.
You might not even feel worried in the moment—but your body is saying something.
And if you’re like me, you’ve probably been tempted to ignore it. Push through.
Tell yourself it’s just stress. Just hormones. Just a bad night of sleep.
But friend, let me say this gently and clearly:
Your body isn’t the problem. It’s speaking. And Jesus knows how to listen.
For years, I didn’t realize how often I overrode my body’s signals.
Chest tightness? Push through.
Restlessness? Stay busy.
Trouble sleeping? Pray it off and pretend I wasn’t exhausted the next day.
Until one day I realized—my body was waving a red flag. And I was pretending it was beige.
That’s the interesting thing about anxiety—it doesn’t always start in the mind.
Sometimes your nervous system speaks first.
And it’s not because you’re broken. It’s because you’re human.
What is crazy about when those symptoms start speaking, we often respond with shame:
“Why can’t I just get it together?”
“Why am I like this?”
“I should be stronger by now.”
But the truth?
God doesn’t just care about your spirit—He cares about your body too.
God’s Peace Isn’t Just Mental—It’s Physical
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” —Philippians 4:6–7 (NLT)
Go with me for just a second as we take a deeper dive into how God’s peace guards our heart and our minds —
Key Word: "Guard" (Greek: phroureō)
This is a military word—not a soft, passive one.
It means:
"To stand watch like a soldier. To protect by keeping harmful forces out."
Imagine this: the image of Roman guards—stationed at their post, fully armed, refusing entry to any enemy.
So when Paul says God's peace will guard your heart and mind?
He’s saying:
God’s peace doesn’t just comfort you.
It shields you.
It blocks what doesn’t belong.
It protects your emotional and mental boundaries from the lies, attacks, and anxious spirals trying to creep in.
Heart and Mind = Your Whole Inner World
Heart = the emotional center: your feelings, desires, intentions
Mind = the thinking center: your thoughts, focus, imagination
God’s peace doesn’t choose one over the other—it covers both.
Because anxiety doesn’t just attack your logic—it floods your emotions too.
But God’s peace? It locks the door and says:
"Nope. Not today. You don't get to take over this space. This one belongs to Me."
What Can You Do When Your Body Feels Hijacked?
These are spiritual tools I’ve leaned on when my body’s been the first to sound the alarm:
1. Ground yourself in Scripture—literally.
Pick one verse. Sit down. Meditate on it. Speak it out loud on repeat.
Psalm 4:8 (NLT)
“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.”Psalm 3:3 (NKJV) (A fave)
“But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.”Psalm 23:1–2 (NLT)
“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.”
2. Pray Scripture.
Lord, Your Word says I don’t have to be anxious about anything. You invite me to come to You—in every situation—with prayer and petition, and with a heart of thanksgiving, to lay everything that’s weighing on me at Your feet. And You’ve given me this promise: that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard and protect my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Not just comfort me—but guard me like a soldier, standing watch over my thoughts and emotions, pushing back the lies, the fear, the swirl of anxiety that tries to take over. I thank You that Your peace is powerful, not passive—that it doesn’t wait for the storm to pass, but meets me in it and anchors me in Your truth. I don’t have to fight this alone, because You’re already fighting for me. So right now, I receive that peace. I speak it over my body, my mind, my emotions. Guard me, Lord, and let Your Word be louder than the lies. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Prayer taken from these scriptures: Phil. 4:6-7, Exodus 14:14, Isaiah 26:3, John 14:27, 2 These. 3:16
3. Lay still and Worship.
Worship isn’t just a song—it’s a spiritual reset. A few years back, I walked through a challenging health season, and my anchor was this one song: Give Me Jesus. I played it while getting ready in the morning, driving to work, making dinner—over and over again. That song kept pulling my eyes off the battlefield and back onto Christ. It reminded me that no matter what, Jesus is more than enough.
4. Hydrate + Rest.
Yes, practical things matter too. Taking care of your body isn’t unspiritual—it’s stewardship. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 says your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. That means rest, movement, nourishment—these are all ways you honor God. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and God never asked you to run yourself into the ground. Stewardship starts with surrender—and includes taking care of what He’s given you, starting with you.
5. Speak what’s true—even if your body doesn’t feel or believe it yet.
“This is a moment. Not my forever.
I am safe in the arms of God.
I am held in the strong arms of my Father.
God is with me—right here, right now.”
And then there’s this: take a Sabbath.
It sounds simple. But I’m telling you—it’s been one of the most healing, anxiety-reducing shifts I’ve ever made.
I’m naturally driven.
I love creating. I love dreaming. I love working on things I believe in. I love doing kingdom work for my Heavenly Father. I’ve got a mind that’s constantly flowing with vision, ideas, goals—and I actually enjoy being productive.
But God didn’t create me to go seven days a week, nonstop.
And somewhere along the way, we started wearing our exhaustion like a badge of honor. We post about the 80-hour work weeks. We brag about hustle like it’s holy.
But what if it’s actually disobedience dressed up as ambition?
“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest… My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” —Matthew 11:28–30
That’s what He invites us into.
Not more hustle. More rest.
God modeled it from the very beginning.
He created for six days—then stopped.
And what did He do?
He looked back.
He reflected.
He called it good.
And He rested.
If God—the Creator of the heavens and the earth—chose to pause,
what makes us think we’re built to run on empty?
For me, Sunday is that Sabbath.
Yes, I’m leading or assisting with worship—but once I get home, I unplug.
No emails.
No laundry.
No meal-prepping, chore-catch-up, inbox-taming energy.
I rest.
I almost always nap.
Or sit on the back porch with a book.
Or go to the beach with my husband.
Or take a slow walk.
Or curl up with an old 1940s movie next to my hubby with a cozy blanket and our cat.
It’s not just a break—it’s a holy reset.
And here’s what I’ve learned:
If I don’t honor rest, my body will force it on me.
Heart palpitations. Brain fog. Heightened anxiety. Exhaustion that no amount of caffeine can cure. Elevated stress going into the next week.
That’s not weakness. That’s a warning.
And Sabbath is, I believe, God’s remedy.
If your body is speaking—don’t ignore it.
Maybe it’s not just stress. Maybe it’s the absence of rest.
And maybe the most spiritual thing you can do this week… is take a nap. Just be.
Because rest isn’t laziness.
It’s worship.
And it’s the posture where anxiety loses its voice.
Coming Monday:
Part 7 – Peace Is a Weapon, Not a Feeling
We don’t tiptoe into peace—we fight for it with truth.