This Week's Devo

 Defeating Anxiety: A Battle Plan for the Heart

Week 1: 

The Distorted Mirror

“The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” 

– 2 Corinthians 10:4

Over the next three weeks, we’re going to walk through a short series called “Defeating Anxiety: A Battle Plan for the Heart.”

Together, we’ll unpack what anxiety really is, how it takes root, and the divine power we have through Christ to overcome it.

Each week builds on the next—so if you’ve felt trapped in your own thoughts, overwhelmed by fear, or exhausted by the pressure to “have it all together,” this is for you.

This week, we begin by identifying what anxiety does best—it distorts.

It twists truth, blurs our perspective, and replaces peace with panic.

But what if the reflection you’ve been staring into isn’t even real?

As a young twenty-something girl, I had all the confidence in the world. I recognized the talents God had given me, the identity He had created in me, and the worth He had bestowed upon me. 

I knew who I was and whose I was.

That’s why it was so difficult for me to see when the distorted mirror of anxiety began to creep up before me. It didn’t appear overnight—it slowly constructed itself, piece by piece, through unmet expectations, subtle insecurities, and whispered doubts I never imagined I’d entertain.

At first, I barely noticed. A passing comment that made me question my worth. A comparison that made me feel small. A disappointment that whispered, “You should have done better.” Each one added another shard to the mirror until one day, I looked up and could no longer see the confident girl I once knew.

Instead of see the woman God had created, I saw a reflection clouded by fear, failure, and inadequacy. The confident voice that once declared, “I am His” was drowned out by the anxious voice that murmured “You’re not enough.”

That’s what anxiety does—it builds its mirror slowly, so quietly, that by the time we realize what’s happened, our reflection has already changed. The mirror looms in front of us as a daunting wall between us and our Creator. We start believing what we see instead of what God says. Instead of standing as a brilliant reflection of our Savior, we now stand crippled by the distorted image in front of us.

Anxiety. Such a simple word, yet I packs a punch that can shake the very foundation of even the strongest heart.

It creeps in quietly—through unmet expectation, uncertainty about the future, or the weight of trying to hold everything together—and before we know it, Fear has build a mirror between us and God.

This mirror is not glass; it’s made of lies.

One by one, Fear crafts the reflection— each insecurity, each whisper of “you’re not enough.”

We look into it and see failure where God sees growth, weakness where He sees surrender, chaos where He promises peace.

Anxiety’s greatest trick is distortion.

It doesn’t erase God’s presence—it simply blocks our view of Him.

And as the mirror grows taller, we stop seeing His strength and start believing only in our own weakness. We forget that we were never meant to fight in our own power.

But 2 Corinthians 10:4 gives us a battle cry:

“The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”

That mirror? It’s a stronghold.

And the weapon to destroy it is the truth of God’s word.

When we see anxiety for what it is—a false reflection build by Fear—we can begin to fight back with truth, courage, and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

This week, take time to recognize what your mirror is made of.

What lies has the enemy used to shape the way you see yourself?

What voices drown out the truth of who God says you are?

Naming them is the first step toward freedom.