Would you like to give some advice to this woman? I found some simple steps online that should help reduce her anxiety:
I showed this to my super-tense friend, and she said, “Thanks; now I have nine more things to stress over!”
You can’t just get rid of stress; that would leave a vacuum, and a hundred more worries would rush in to replace it. Stress has to be squeezed out by something more solid and real.
I consulted with Dr. Jesus, and he recommended a very effective health food — PEACE. His words are recorded in John’s Gospel, chapter 14. Twice, in verse 1 and verse 27, he says, “Do not let your heart be troubled.” That is, “Don’t be stressed out!” Easy for him to say. As if Ms. Terribly, Terribly Alert has control over that. Jesus seems to believe she does.
Here’s the key to his advice:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. (verse 27)
This is not a superficial peace, coming from minimizing the problems, or artificial positive thinking, or temporary diversion. This is deep, satisfying peace coming from this profound inner experience:
Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (verse 23)
Jesus made a distinction between the peace that the world gives and the peace that he gives. The world makes only thin peace soup; Jesus makes thick peace soup — the only kind that can de-tense even Ms. Terribly, Terribly Alert. It will fill her soul and leave little space for stress.
— Pastor George Van Alstine