You’re not a bad Christian for feeling this way

In this episode, Dayna dives into a topic many Christians quietly wrestle with: anxiety.

If you’ve ever felt like your anxiety means your faith isn’t strong enough, this conversation offers a refreshing and biblical perspective. Through scripture and personal insight, Dayna unpacks why anxiety doesn’t disqualify your faith—and how even some of the most faithful people in the Bible experienced fear, overwhelm, and uncertainty.

She breaks down what the Bible actually says about anxiety, the difference between control and surrender, and practical ways to bring your worries to God instead of carrying them alone.

This episode is a reminder that anxiety isn’t a sign you’re failing—it’s an invitation to trust God more deeply.

SCRIPTURE:

1.) David’s anxiety: Psalm 55:4

2.) Elijah’s exhaustion: 1 Kings 19:4

3.) The disciple’s fear: Mark 4:38-40

4.) What to do with anxiety: Philippians 4:6-7

5.) Worry doesn’t help: Matthew 6:27

6.) Cast your anxiety: 1 Peter 5:7

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Buckle up besties. We're back in our Bibles. Hello and welcome back to Gospel to Go, the bite-sized Bible study you can take with you anywhere. My name is Dana. If you're new here, I am so happy you're here. And if you're returning, thank you so much for coming back. I love spending my Friday mornings with you guys. Genuinely, like I think this has become my favorite part of the week. It used to be a little bit daunting. Like, do you guys remember when I first started? It was kind of hard for me to like stick to a schedule. But I feel like now I have so much fun and I look forward to actually like coming up with topics to discuss and just like overall creating the podcast for you guys. I think one of my favorite parts of the pod is like the community part. Like I love posting and then getting to like go and answer comments, or like when I open my DMs on Instagram, like you guys will often like message me about just like parts of the episode that you liked and your takeaways. And I think that that's just something that I've really come to like love, like getting to know you guys and what it is that you're struggling with, or things that I've said that it maybe are relatable. Like, I just love that. I love it. So again, just thank you so much for um being here. I like to kind of start off just to ease us in with like some stuff that's been going on. I'm trying to think of some updates from this week. We got our invitations out for our wedding, which is so exciting. Lots of work, you guys. Oh my gosh. So if you don't know, I work nine to five. Well, not really nine to five. It's in real estate, so like I work like all the time. Like my phone could always be ringing. So I do work in real estate investing as like my main career, and I absolutely love, love, love it. I do content creation, of course, on the side. Um, and then I also am planning my wedding. So we get married in June, and I'm extremely excited for that. This season is like in full swing. I mean, we're already basically towards the end of March, and April's the bachelorette, May is the shower, June is the wedding. So, like, we are just like bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. We're heading right into the season. So um, I I do also just want to preface like over the next few weeks, I'm really, really hoping that I can stay on schedule. I've actually created like an actual like outline template, like for me to really like kick my button to gear on certain days in order to get everything up in time. Um, I just want you guys to remember, like, there's obviously other things that I have going on in my life as well. Um, while I'm also trying to like put push out content for you guys, continue to just put the Lord at the center. I never want you guys to feel like my content is like forced or there's like deadlines to meet. So just if I am a little bit like spacey here and there, like just bear with me, please, please, please, because this season is going to get very busy, but I want to somehow kind of weave in these exciting moments that I have, like into scripture and into content for you guys. That's kind of my my plan. So I do really hope that that is something that I can, you know, do. So, nevertheless, our invites are out. We are officially in wedding season, receiving RSVPs. Like, it's so exciting. This is such an exciting time. So, I just want to thank you guys so much for you know being here with me in this season of life. This is it's super exciting. So, um, before we get into it, I have a prayer. Of course, you guys know I love to start our episodes off with a nice prayer. If you are somewhere safe that you can close your eyes by your heads, I invite you to do so. God, thank you for bringing us here today together. You know, about every anxious thought that we have, every worry, every fear, everything that we might carry, whether it is good or bad or negative or positive, I pray that this conversation would bring peace to us, clarity, and also truth, and remind us that we are not alone in what we feel and that you are always near us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Now, you guys, I am gonna hit you with like six different scriptures today. We got lots of verses. We got verses at the wazoo. So if you have your Bibles good, get your highlighters out. We're gonna be highlighting everything. If you don't, maybe grab a notepad, a notebook, maybe your notes app. Again, a lot of you guys I know are listening while like driving. Maybe you have long commutes, maybe you're at the gym, maybe you're doing the dishes, your habit stacking, whatever. I love that for you. Um, but I, you know what? Let's do this. Because I know a lot of you are kind of multitasking, which is fine. I like to do that too. Um, I'm gonna put all six of the scriptures in the description box, like down below, or the comment section, or whatever you call that, the show notes. Um, and so you guys can like easily go back to them and reference them when you have time because obviously I don't want you like taking notes while driving. That's not safe. So um also it's seven o'clock in the morning right now. So I don't know if you guys know this. You would if you watched my YouTube vlogs because I put this in my last week's, I think, or maybe the week before vlog. Anyway, I usually film my podcast episodes either Wednesday or Thursday night. Well, last night I had lots going on. Last night was Wednesday. Sorry, this is gonna be confusing because you're listening on a Friday, but last night was Wednesday night and I did not film. Um, and so, or record, I should say. And so then today when I woke up, I was like, oh shoot, I have plans tonight. Because for those of you that may not know, it's March Madness, and Danny loves, loves, loves to like this. Is usually when he uses like some of his PTO and him and his friends like get together and watch March Madness. I'm like, are we 12? Like, be so for real. Like we're grown men, anyways. So uh he's off today and tomorrow, which is Friday, and so the girls, like the wives of the men that are 12 years old, are basically getting together tonight to just like hang out so that we're not all alone while our men are watching basketball, like their lives depend on it. So, anyways, I have friends coming over tonight, and I was like, I want to be obviously present with them, and so I don't want to be like rushing this podcast at like 11 o'clock when they leave tonight. Um, and so I figured I'd get up early and record for you guys. So if my voice sounds like I don't know, I just feel like I'm talking very monotone, and also Danny is still asleep in the next room. So I am just trying to be kind of quiet. Okay. Anyways, let's get into it. As you can probably tell by the title of this episode, I want to talk about something that I feel like a lot of Christians quietly struggle with, and that is anxiety. I know I've done an episode on this before, and I had a lot of really good feedback from you guys, so I wanted to make another episode on it. Now, the one that I made, it was back, it was like the turn of the year. I think it was honestly maybe my first episode of this year, 2026. It was basically like, let's talk about anxiety. And I shared a lot about my personal experience with it. In this episode, I really want to like implement some scripture that we can turn to and sort of how to combat it and how to fight it with the word, of course. Right. So it's not just anxiety, it's like, I don't want to say guilt, but there's like a feeling almost that comes with it where you're like, I know I shouldn't be feeling this way because I trust in God, but like, why am I still feeling so weighed down? Because if you're a Christian, you may have thought, like, if I really trusted God, I wouldn't feel this way, right? Why am I still anxious if I have faith? And then anxiety sort of turns to shame. Then it's like this constant wheel, this constant cycle of like shame and sadness and embarrassment and depression and then anxiety and then shame and then embarrassment. Like you're like constantly in this loop of like, do I trust God? Like maybe I don't trust God as much as I thought I did, and I'm trying to read my Bible, and then like anxiety and shame, they're not a fun pair. Okay. But here is the truth the Bible never says that you'll not ever feel anxious. Like the Bible's never like, oh, by the way, you should never feel anxious. It's actually trying to show us what we should do when you are feeling anxious. You are going to feel fear in this life. You are gonna feel times that you're scared, you're gonna feel times of uncertainty, you're gonna feel times of anxiety. That's completely normal. So take a breath right now, especially if you're in and you're in a season of like anxiousness and anxiety. Take a breath and realize like this is normal. This is completely okay. All right, because what the enemy is trying to do is get in your ear and chat, chat, chat, chat, chat you up like, girl, you should not be feeling anxious. You know, like that's where the shame comes from because shame is not one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, remember? So it does not come from God. So don't ever feel like God is feeling like disappointed in you. That was last week's episode, right? God is not disappointed in you, don't worry. Let's talk about what the Bible says to do when you feel anxious. Some of the most faithful people, you guys in the Bible struggled very deeply with anxiety. David says in Psalm 55, 4 Here's our first verse of the day. He says, My heart is in anguish within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me. This is someone who loved God completely. Like this is someone who loved God. You guys know David, and yet he felt overwhelmed. Elijah, after witnessing literal miracles, ends up running for his life and says in 1 Kings 19 4, it is enough now. Oh Lord, take away my life. And then the disciples, they're literally with Jesus in a boat and a storm hits in Mark. I guess I love this gospel. Oh my gosh. This one, this specific verse I pulled is from Mark, but this story is in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But Mark 4, 38 through 40. The disciples in the boat say, Teacher, don't you care if we drown? You know, the story where they're like in the boat and the waves start to become too much, and Jesus is like, I don't know why this story makes me laugh. I I've always felt this like sense of comedic relief, honestly, from the spirit, like when reading this. Jesus is literally asleep. Okay, he's taking a nap, and the waves are like crashing this boat, okay? And they're like waking him up. They're like, Master, teacher, don't you care if we drown? And he was like, You have little faith, you know. You guys probably know the story, and I've made so many TikToks on it. But even people that are walking very closely with God, like this is just goes to show these are three examples. God still, or I'm sorry, people that are walking close with God, they still experience fear. So anxiety is not like a proof or a testament that your faith is broken. Absolutely not. It's just proof that you're human. One of the most quoted verses about anxiety is in Philippians, it's chapter four, verses six through seven. Um, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. I wanted to emphasize the Thanksgiving part. So basically, it's saying, don't be anxious about anything, but hold on, don't be anxious about anything. It's not saying that you're not going to experience it, it's just saying what you should do instead of feeling anxious. Do you know what I'm saying? Like when I first read that, I was like, do not be anxious about anything. I'm like, oh, it is telling us to not be anxious. No, not necessarily. It's saying instead of being anxious in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. So it's not saying go give all your requests to God. You have to be intentional, right? So in every situation, by prayer, petition, and thanksgiving, bring it to God. So don't just get on your knees and bow your head and start being like rattling it off to God, right? We need to practice thanksgiving. We need to practice being grateful, we need to practice petitioning and praying. Pray for other people, pray for the people that you love, pray for your enemies, bring it to God with gratitude and then present those requests, present those anxiety, those anxious thoughts to God. It doesn't say anxiety will never come. It's just giving us a response. Okay, so when anxiety shows up, pray, bring it to God, surrender it. And then comes the promise. And the peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds. Okay, so that's the end of that that I never read for you guys. I just kept focusing on the beginning. So let's read the whole thing together. Philippians 4, 6 through 7 says, 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 will guard your hearts and your minds. Peace does not come from control, it comes from surrender. In fact, I would argue that peace never comes with control. Like if you're trying to control a situation, especially if it's something that's completely out of your control, that you're trying so hard to direct back into your own way of thinking or the or the way that you want it to happen, it's gonna bring you everything but peace. That is exhausting. You guys ever heard the theory of like swimming against the current? If you're like in a, I don't know, a river, okay? And think about you know how like the river flows one way, right? If you try to fight back, you guys ever try to go like the opposite way in a whirlpool, and it's almost impossible, like you're literally not getting anywhere, you're not making a single step forward, and yet you're exhausting yourself. Okay. That's like fighting back on God. Like, God's like, no, no, no, we're going this way, we're going this way, and you're like, no, I wanted to go this way. Like, I thought this was my plan for life, and you're trying to like fight against that current, you're going to exhaust yourself and you're not gonna get anywhere. And you're gonna miss all of the things. Think about like the river. And as you flow down the river, think of all the things that you'd see, all the opportunities you have. You pass all these beautiful trees and these beautiful gardens, and maybe you pass some new people and just things that you're passing. Okay, it could be anything. I don't know where your river is at. Maybe it's in the backyard, maybe it's in a beautiful river in Ireland. I don't, I don't know. Like, this is your fantasy river, okay? All the opportunities that you have that you could pass if you just floated, right, and kept with the waves. But if you're fighting the current because you liked a flower that you saw a mile away, like back when you were floating, I hope that this makes sense. And you're like, no, I have to go back and get it. I have to go back. I know that that's the flower for me, okay? And you're like fighting against the current, you're exhausting yourself while missing all of the other new flowers that God had for you. If you had just flowed down the river and trusted him. Okay, I love to go on my tangents. You guys know that. So, yeah, I mean, a lot of our anxiety is actually rooted in control. We want to know what's gonna happen, when it's gonna happen, why it's gonna happen. We want certainty, we want outcomes to go our own way. But Jesus says in Matthew 6.27, here's another verse for you guys to highlight. Matthew 6.27, can any one of you by worrying at a single hour to your life, this is one of my favorites, because I'm someone that really struggles with anxiety around like health and death and in like sicknesses and like just uncertainty of like my life, like actually like living, being safe, living a long life. So this is one of my favorites that I have a lot of like bad health anxiety. Can any one of you by worrying at a single hour to your life uh no? Worry, it feels productive. It's like our brain trying to protect us. There's like a there's some sort of fact about our brain wanting more. I wish I like had like things to cite, but I've heard this in two different podcasts now that I listen to and that I trust that your brain actually prefers familiar pain over uncertainty. Like your brain would actually rather go back to something that causes you pain, but it's familiar, so it knows how to like protect and put your guard up because it's so familiar than going on to something uncertain. And I feel like a lot of you might be able to like relate to that because think about how many times, like, for me, I know like the most recent time that I feel like I've experienced that was a job and also maybe a boy. Boys that I was with before obviously I met my amazing, wonderful, beautiful, stunning husband to be Danny. I was so afraid to leave relationships because even though I knew it literally was not the relationship for me, I knew deep into my soul, into my core, like this is not what I want the rest of my life. I was more afraid to go out and put myself out there and date new people and try new things and and get into new relationships and go on dates with unknown people, like people I didn't know, than I was to like I was more scared to do that than scared to stay where I was my entire life. What? Like when I knew I was uncomfortable and unhappy, literally what? What? You're telling me, yes, our brain, it re prefers that because it knows how to protect it. And so worrying and like these anxious thoughts, it feels like it's productive because it feels like our brain is like doing something productive, like we're just protecting it, we're just doing our job, we're protecting you, we're guarding ourselves, but it's not, guys. It's just absolutely exhausting. You're exhausting yourself, you're burning yourself out. Anxiety grows when we try to carry things God never asked us to carry. I just posted a TikTok this morning. I think I it's actually funny that this is what I posted because I found this quote on Did I find this on Instagram or Pinterest? I think it was on Instagram and it actually like flows into this podcast really well. So maybe you saw it, but it's uh the video of me like pouring my coffee. I love to put like fun little quotes that'll make you think like over my coffee. Um so food for thought. It says Oh, I'm gonna blank on it now. Ah, it says, if you're worried about the cost for going for it, you should see the price of staying exactly where you are. Oof. Yeah. Yeah. That one goes really well with this episode. So that's interesting, actually. Little God winks here and there. God's like always preparing me for the podcast in some way or another. He's like, hey, you can use this little nudge. Um, okay. So anxiety grows when we try to carry things that God never asked us to carry. And faith is learning to say, God, I see you. I trust you. I trust you with what I can't control. So now, what do we do when anxiety hits? Okay, what do we actually need to do when anxiety hits, when we're feeling that spiraling moment? A few things that have really helped me are to pause and pray immediately, like literally immediately as I feel it coming on. I'm like, God, I give this to you. I don't want this, I don't want to carry this. I know this is not from you, so I'm gonna hand it right on over to you. And speak truth over your thoughts. In Isaiah 41, 10, it says, So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous, right hand. Do not fear, for I am with you. I will strengthen you and help you. Release that control every day. Like you have to just like take a breath, give it to God. Sometimes, like, if I breathe in, my thoughts, I'm thinking those thoughts, and then I blow it out. Like, like physically, like give it to God. Like you're releasing it. You're releasing it every day, not once, not just when you're feeling it every like here and there, just every morning, like getting into the habit. Things that you do every day, habits that you do every day. You know, I've talked about this before. Like, normally when I get in bed, before I like grab from my Kindle or scroll on my phone or go on to you know TV to like pick a show to fall asleep to, I practice gratitude. I'm always like, thank you, God, for this day. No matter what it brought to me, like I am feeling gracious, whatever I practice gratitude and I thank him for things. A lot of times in the morning, because think of like things you do every day. You obviously get into bed every night to go to bed. So that's just something that I've like practiced and has become a habit. But also, like maybe you make breakfast every day, maybe you make your coffee every day, maybe you get in your car to go to work every day. Whatever it is that you know is going to be consistent every single day. Start using that as like a trigger to just being present with God for a second. When I get in my car, for whatever reason, for me, it's like right when I hit downtown. Like when I'm passing all the buildings downtown, when I'm getting into work, that is like when I usually say, God, I give whatever that this day has to bring to me to you. Like whatever comes to me today is from you. And I know that I would not have these opportunities. I would not even have this day. I would not even have breath in my lungs if it were not for you. And I just give everything to him. Like I just surrender the day over to him. So release that control every single day and remember that you're not alone. Another one of my favorites, um, this is the last piece of scripture I'm gonna leave you guys with today. It's in 1 Peter 5 7, just says, cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Cast all your anxiety on him. That's what it says. Not some of it, all of it. Okay, you guys, we got this. We got this. Um, gonna have to love you and leave ya because if you can't tell, I don't know if this mic is picking it up. Oh, it probably picked that one up. My dog is barking. My dog's like, let me out of this crate right now. So I'm going to leave you right there. If you're listening to this, you guys, and you're someone who loves God, but you struggle with anxiety. I want to just reiterate this. I want you to hear this clearly. Okay, you're not failing, you're not weak. You are a human. Okay, God is not disappointed in you, He's inviting you closer. And anxiety is not something that disqualifies you from faith. I'm gonna say that one more time because I know I'm talking really fast. I'm sorry. I love you. I talk so fast. Whenever I'm on the phone, like with sellers, they're like, Can you say that again? Like you're talking really fast. And I'm like, I know, I'm sorry. When I get really excited about something, like I start talking really fast. Let me say it again. Anxiety is not something that disqualifies you from your faith. I need you to hear that like a million times. I wish I could make that your ringtone, your alarm, whenever you wake up in the morning. Anxiety is not something that disqualifies you from your faith. I just made a little uh jingle for you to wake up to every morning, okay? Because we need to just remember that. It's something that can actually. Draw you deeper into your dependence on him. So use that, use that as a way to get closer to him. Okay, you don't have to carry this alone. Remember, Jesus loves you so much. God, I pray that the person listening right now who feels overwhelmed or who feels anxious, I just pray that you would calm their mind, study their heart, and remind them that you are the only one in control. Help them release what it is that they've been holding on to. Fill them with your peace that goes beyond understanding. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. You guys, I love you so much and Jesus loves you. If this episode encouraged you or made you feel happy or made you feel a little less anxious, I encourage you to send it to a friend or family member who may need to hear it. Remember, this is um how we can just spread the word, spread the gospel, spread the word about our love, our love, our Lord Jesus, our Savior Jesus. Um, and if you want to go deeper, I'm also gonna write a full breakdown of this episode over on my Substack community. I have, um, I'll leave it linked below where essentially, you know, I post free articles, but also if you want to pay for the monthly subscription, it's$5.99 a month, and you'll get weekly devotionals. So that's another just fun way to connect. And if you're wanting to dive a little bit deeper, obviously not something you absolutely have to do. I'm also gonna leave my Bible, um, my life application study Bible down below. I get questions on it in every single video. What Bible are you using? It's from Hosanna Revival, a little bit on the pricier side, so I'll leave a discount code for you guys, but I promise you it is worth every single penny, every single investment. It is the way that I'm able to like come up with these like deeper dives. Like genuinely, you guys, people will be like, How do you think like this? How do you like write these episodes? How do you come up with these ideas for TikToks? And I'm like, seriously, like just understanding the word better. And if you don't really know how to understand the word better, this study Bible, it helps. It helps so much. And I talk about it all the time, so I'm just gonna leave it at that. But um, yeah, I love you guys so much. YouTube will also be linked down below if you just want to spend your weeks with me. Um, I'm gonna film a new week in my life next week because there's a lot going on. Again, just I really appreciate you guys for being with me during this very busy, busy season of my life. And I love, love, love that you guys are wanting to learn more about Jesus and get closer to God with me. I love this community that we have built. So again, I'll I love you guys so much. And I'll talk to you in the next episode.