I have a P31 devotion today and want to say hello and “welcome” if you found your way here through it! I’m so glad you stopped by!
I wish we could sit in a coffee shop and chat today.
I’d love to talk with you about things that are weighing you down or worries that are making you weary. They always seem to lighten when shared with a friend.
I’d tell you about the year I let my problems pile up and how all that pressure almost took me down. It’s all in chapter 9 of my book including the story about how I accidentally took my dogs medicine one morning.
In my devotion, I shared how God has been changing me and rearranging me. I also promised to share three steps to overcome worry and a practical way to physically give God your concerns! Since we can’t chat in a coffee shop today, I decided to share my heart in a short video post.
Message Notes: You can download my “Video Message Notes” in a PDF here or in a Word doc here. They include the points of my message, verses and blanks to fill in. {If you’d like to watch more FREE Confident Heart videos based on my book, click here.}
Let’s Connect & A Giveaway: I’d love to hear your thoughts and one thing you want to apply after reading today’s devotion and hearing the video message. Click “share your thoughts” right below this post and do just that. 🙂
Your comment enters you in today’s “Come to Me” stress-relief gift pack giveaway which ncludes a Bath & Body Works Eucalyptus Mint candle, God-iva Dark Chocolate and an Chamomile Lavender scented Anti-Stress Comfort Wrap that can be refrigerated or microwaved depending on your preference – my favorite home spa treatment!!
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Renee, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I realized that I have been so consumed in worry and stress that I, actually, find myself pulling away from God and engrossing myself in other things that take less effort. As I pull away from God and my family things just keep getting worse. The Lord’s words are so true, I do what I don’t want to do and don’t do what I want to do. Thank God we have an awesome God!
Uh.h…..Are you video taping my mind? Thank you so much for the practical help, you spoke right into my heart and blessed me tremendously. I plan to apply your practical help: Stop worrying, Start praying, & Keep thanking God(more than 1 but I need to apply them all!). I also need to seek more and serve less! Thank you again so much, I’m glad God is speaking through you!:)
My marriage is in turmoil because of my worrying. I feel like all of the weight is on my shoulders because my husband has a care free attitude. He doesn’t worry if the bills will get paid, or if there will be enough money for food and gas for the week, or the fact that I already can’t pay for my last few college classes to receive my Bachelor’s Degree that I have been working on so hard and so long… and NOW the loans are about to start coming in the mail for repayment! The kids don’t have a sitter for the summer and they are getting shifted around from family member to friend and I’m driving over 120 miles a day to get them to and from and I’m getting 4 hours of sleep if that a night working 10+ hours a day at my job… This list could go on and on and on! But with the help of my so totally awesome co-worker and sister-in-christ I am working very very hard on giving all of THAT to God. I pray all the way to work and all the way home, but I don’t truly ever give it to God. I am all talk and no action when it comes to giving my worries to God to handle. And now my husband has been hurt so deeply that our marriage could be in deep trouble.
So unbeknownst to me I have had 3 lessons that have popped up that are going to help me stop worrying:
1. cleaning my mind of impure thoughts
2. making sure my personal line to God is not shorted out by snakes of sin
3. trusting in the Lord so I don’t drown in a sea of worry
It’s amazing how Sunday I didn’t go to church but I watched my pastor, Kerry Shook (Fellowship Of the Woodlands- TX), and his sermon was the sermon he preached on my very first visit to FOTW about what you may ask???? Revving up your life, but more importantly cleaning your tank of impurities.
Then at work our morning meeting always starts with a devotional and yesterday was about letting the ‘snake’ of negativities like: anger, bitterness, corrupt talk, unforgiving attitutde short circuit our powerline to God and block out the Holy Spirit from our hearts. RE: 2 Samuel 22:37
And today was about trusting in the Lord. Instead of resting on the promises of God to take care of what burdens me sometimes, no make that most of the time I start panicing and spinning into a downward spiral instead of just looking UP.
RE: Proverbs 16:20
I know after reading your ‘When worry makes me weary’ today that I am definitely on the right track to getting my life with our Father back on track! I also know that through God’s promise to never give me more than I can bear that I WILL repair the relationship and spark a new connection with my husband ONLY because I am getting honest with God and not trying to control every little thing that is going on in my life. It’s okay to not know what will happen and trust that the Lord will take care of it.- I can do this!!!
BELIEVE!!!!
WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!!!
Praying for you and your marriage Tiffany ….. I love the verses in Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” and Romans 12:12 “12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
I’m thinking I need to be still before Him and let him deal with the worries and doubts and I need to be joyful in Him, patient, and pray and pray some more.
Blessings and praying for you.
Thank you for the ‘oh so needed’ prayers, Donna! I am going to dive into Exodus and Romans this afternoon!
BELIEVE!!!!
WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!!!
God certainly knows when I need to read/hear the right message. Thank you for this today 🙂 Like many others who have posted, I know that the tabletop cross where I can lay my concerns card will be the perfect solution.
thank you again!
I am so glad God led me to your book (and you!) at this difficult time in my life. As you know, I’ve lost my father-in-law, mom, stepmom, and daddy in the last 5 months. My husband has tonsil cancer and he has gotten mean since his treatment started, in fact he hit me and knocked me down when we got home from chemo today. He has never hit me, I know he’s sick, but that’s no excuse. I’ll forgive him, once. Next time, I’m gone, cancer or no cancer. I’m stressed to the max. I realize reading this book that I really need to have some God confidence. I’m glad I’m learning how to get it.
This devotion dovetails the book “A Praying Life” that I am currently reading. The author is Paul E. Miller. I’m learning that God wants us to relate to Him in a child-like way: total and utter dependence on Him, and asking Him for ALL our needs.
I often feel anxiety and failure because I am not able to get everything done in one day I would like. I feel like I fail my daughter by not being a homeschooling mom. She attends a wonderful christian school, one her dad and I struggle to keep her in. I won’t put her in a Los Angeles public school so I prayed and God led me where she is today.
This post hit home and was a great read and a wonderful reminder of Gods love and devotion to us as His children.
Wow! This message really hit home with me today. Recently, I have been very anxious. I have been worrying for no apparent reason. Your story helps me to remember that only God can take this anxiety away and that I should also turn to him.
Wow. I wasn’t going to hit the link but I’m so glad I did. This blog and video are so telling. I have been completely overwhelmed with worry and trying to solve it all, all by myself. Not only is this helping me to redirect back to God, but I can’t wait to share this with three dear friends who have had more thrown on their plates than anyone needs lately. Thank you. I’ll be heading to the bookstore for the book this weekend!
I’m dealing with many things I’m on my mind. Still praying to find God’s will for me. Lately, I feel lost and, alone but I know in my heart God is there I can’t explain it but I know it’s there. Since my injury, i have lost my social life, zumba, and loss of hours at work. I’m so tired of asking for help for assistance but I hold my tongue and do it. I know many other people have it worse. I’m trying to find out how to pay the hospital cost because I’m in the process of switching insurance so hopefully things will work out. Many of my friends are telling me (including my parents) to see if the apartment is covered since I hurt myself there and I should send the bill there. I really do not like doing that but only working 8-10 hours a week is difficult and alos to pay your rent is hard. I’m still searching for a full-time job and also praying because I’m worry that I will have to move out again but trying so hard to trust in God. I know God is in Control but this week has been emotional one more than ever. This study couldn’t be more timing of everything I’m going through..Thank you Renee
Shannon,
Praying for you …. and when I find myself feeling all alone and lost I look to Chapter 12 of Renee’s book. I love being able to recapture those promises that she shares with us there. I love the promise in Duet 31:6 “The Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” And I also love Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Praying that God will wrap you in these verses and reveal Himself to you in new and exciting ways as you lean into Him.
Donna,
Wow, thank you..I have a bookmark that has the verse Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Thank you for your prayers and support..I will be praying for all of you..
I have never thought of my stress as my captivity, but seeing that scripture made me realize it is. I am captured in stress! Thank goodness I know who can free me!!
I have spent most of the years I can remember worrying. You see, when I was six years old my life changed in one day. My mom called me into her old room at her parents house and told me she and dad were getting a divorce, and that we would be living there, at grandma and grandpas starting today. I never got to say good-bye to friends, my school, my room, nothing. I felt like the room started spinning, and I ran out of the bedroom and got sick in the bathroom. From that point on I worried if I wasn’t in control of everything, then my world would once again spin out of control. I don’t like the unpredictible in life, I thrive on routine, and feel most secure knowing what will happen. Unfortunately life isn’t predictible, and I can’t always happen. I developed anxiety disorder as a child, and while it stopped for a time, it hit me again in my twenties. I have to try very hard to give my worry to God. I mean really give it to Him, not just in words, but in my heart. It’s hard for me to even let go of things and give them to God, and that makes me sad. I am learning daily to do it more and more though, and it has relieved so much of my anxiety. I don’t think my anxiety will ever leave me, but you never know what God’s plans are 🙂 However, I am starting to understand that it is OK to let those anxious feelings exsist, as long as I have given them to God. If I trust God with the thoughts causing the feelings, most often the feelings will follow. I figure if they don’t, God has a reason for them being there, and that make me feel Good and a bit more at ease too.
I LOVE your idea of putting a cross by my bed and then writing my worry down on a 3 x 5 card and letting it go, leaving it literally at the cross, and with God! I am definately going to have to do that! I loved your video today. It really hit home! Thanks Renee 🙂
Hi Renee. I am currently reading your book A Confident Heart with a group of girls from church and it has helped me become more vulnerable and open up in ways that I never have before. It was really neat to see that you had graduated from Meredith College because I graduated from there as well. I have struggled with some of the same things you shared in your book. Thank you so much for being so honest and sharing your story. It has really uplifted me and encouraged me to be more for HIM!!
I read your devotion today as well and it really hit home for me. Especially where you said, “My mind is wired to think a lot so I’d gotten used to the constant flurry of motion in my brain. Yet anxiety had crept in slowly, causing tangles in my thoughts, a tightening in my chest, and tension in my neck. Some days I couldn’t stop thinking about ALL I needed to do.” I have issues with anxiety from time to time and like you describe here, it is something that creeps in slowly. If I do not have my daily quiet time with the Lord, it gets to the point where I feel like it is going to consume me. It is encouraging to know that I am not the only one that NEEDS that quiet time with him in order not to stress and become anxious.I am a thinker as well and if I am not careful, I find myself thinking about things and not praying about them.But, when I have quiet time with Him and get in His presence, it becomes clear that all I need to do is lean and trust in Him and He will take care of the rest. Thank you again:) God Bless! Vicky
Thank you God for this timely devotion and your promise to be my help and my rest. YOU ARE SO GOOD!
I try so hard to live by the Philipians 4 scripture to ask God for anything, but always be thankful for what he is doing. I like your idea of giving your cares to God by writing it down and placing it at the foot of a cross. I will definitely try that. My pastor once suggested we write down our “to do list” when our minds begin to wander during prayer.
I always know when its time to slow down and relax; but don’t always listen to what God is telling me. It is nice to know that others feel the same way.
Thank you, Renee. You highlighted an area that I didn’t realize was there. I’m reminded of the verse in Luke 12 which asks who can add an hour to his life by worrying. I believe the danger is that most of us don’t see it as a worry. We’ve changed the word to “concern” or for some we need to have things “all figured out”. It doesn’t help that it is an accepted notion that our brains are constantly “thinking a lot”
I have a question though,
How can you separate the need to think on things without overdoing it when you don’t recognize what you’re thinking as a worry?
Thanks for your words! I need to be brought back to these thoughts often.
Once again, God provided just what I needed to hear when I needed it. Having to trust Him not only with my life, but others as well (not sure how I think I can take care of them when we live several hours apart & I can’t drive, but have been). The title is perfect. Worry has definitely been making me weary.
Worry and perfectionism go hand in hand for me. I feel if I worry myself through every situation things will turn out okay. What struck my was your words that “worry is Satan’s acid in our hearts”, WOW!. I never thought if it like that but that’s sure what it feels like, a churning in my stomach every time I worry. I have a plaque by my bed, “Leave you worries with God before you go to sleep, he’s going to be up all night anyway.” I can write my notecards and leave them by the plaque. I sure could use the destress worry giveaway today, taking time for myself just isn’t something I ever do.