How did you wake up this morning? Did you wake up with anxiety, or excitement?

Are you anxious about this day? Are you overwhelmed before it even begins? Are you dreading all you have to do, already assuming you won’t have enough of whatever it requires? Dang, that’s exhausting, isn’t it?

I assure you, regardless of circumstances, anxiety was optional for today. It’s all a matter of what you are believing. If you’re believing in a negative outcome, you feel anxious. If you’re believing in a positive outcome, you feel excitement. It’s actually quite simple. If you shift what you believe, you will change the trajectory of your days.

Did you know the feeling of anxiety is physically and functionally almost the same as the feeling of excitement? Both feelings cause your heart to race and give you butterflies in your stomach. Your pits get sweaty. What is happening here is your body is preparing itself for action. However if you label it anxiety, it produces a totally different result than excitement, yet they are remarkably the same in your body.

Anxiety comes from a place of fear. When we operate from anxiety, we simply survive and we dismiss ourselves from opportunities and possibilities perfectly aligned for us. That same elevated heart rate, butterflies and sweaty pits, when received as excitement, could have us rip roaring ready to accept the challenge and show up as our best selves. It’s our choice.

Could this be why we are told in Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

God’s will is not for you to be anxious … about anything! Ever. He never wants you in a tizzy. He never wants you flipping out, stressed out, or hiding under the covers. He never wants you hiding from your days, sitting it out, assuming you could never be better, and life could never be different for you. Guess who’s plan that is for you? Could it be Satan? You bet your butt it could be! Not God! Not God’s good plan. Not for his girl!

Instead, God’s word says, hey, don’t be anxious about this, but talk to me about it. Could praying about it change our perspective on the circumstances? Could we turn from fear to anticipation? Could we shift from anxiety to excitement? Absolutely we can, because we are assured God hears our prayers and is moved to action on our behalf!

1 John 5:15 “And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.”

Hey sis, you don’t have to be anxious about this. You have been given permission to get excited about how God is going to move for you. All you have to do is ASK HIM. And when you ask him, you know he hears you and begins to move mountains for you. You should go ahead and get excited for some mountain moving in your life. Impossible things shall be made possible! Maybe not in the way you expected, and maybe not in the timing you had in mind, but in God’s perfect timing and perfect ways, IT WILL HAPPEN. You can get excited about it.

As soon as you decide you are excited instead of anxious, you’re no longer dismissing opportunities, you’re showing up ready for them! There is a shift, and you will feel it. You will see it. You will walk in it.

A study out of Harvard asked people to speak out loud before having to perform in public. They were asked to announce that they either felt anxious or that they felt excited. One would say, “I feel anxious about this.” The next person would say, “I feel excited about this.” One by one, they were split into the categories based solely on what they were told to say before they performed. Anxious or excited. The study found those who said they were excited performed better. Same elevated heart rate, same butterflies, same sweaty pits, same uncertainty, just a changed belief.

A belief that said this is going to turn out good, versus bad.

Have you been struggling with feelings of anxiety because deep down you believe it will turn out bad for you? Why do you do that? Do you believe God is for you? Do you believe God has good plans for your life? Do you believe he is all-knowing and all-powerful? Do you believe he has seen the end from the beginning and is working all things together for good?

Then Sis, why are you anxious thinking this is going to turn out bad for you? Don’t you see how those thoughts are crippling you and potentially causing you to miss opportunities for living fully today?

Anxiety wants you to believe you’re not good enough.
Anxiety wants you to believe you shouldn’t even try.
Anxiety wants you to believe only bad things will happen here.
Anxiety wants you to believe everyone and everything is against you.
Anxiety wants you to believe God won’t get this right for you.

There’s not an ounce of God’s truth in any of that!

Habakkuk 2:4 MSG “The person in right standing before God through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive.”

Loyal and steady believing. That’s the kind of believing that will stare down the hardest of circumstances and still say “God is for me, not against me.” That’s the kind of believing that wakes up on a morning like this one and says “I have nothing to fear, God has already gone before me and he has made a way.” That’s the kind of believing that stands in the middle of the storm and says “God knows exactly what he is doing and I will trust him.”

And this is the kind of believing that makes us fully alive.

When we choose excitement over anxiety, we live, and we live fully. We don’t dismiss ourselves from opportunities just because of uncertainty. We take that uncertainty and we believe the goodness of God will prevail, and we move forward with faith.

Which would be more useful for you today, my Sister, anxiety or excitement? Which would make you more grateful? More productive? More energetic? More fully alive?

Anxiety isn’t serving you well. By simply declaring you are EXCITED to see how God is going to work in this mess and how his good plans will unfold, you instantly shift those feelings to start working for you instead of against you.

God says DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING. That includes this thing. Your thing. Instead he wants you to talk to him about it, and when you talk to him about it, have absolute confidence he hears you and he is springing into action for you. He is on the scene. He is at work. He is doing impossible things you cannot see, and it’s for you, because you asked.

And that is why you can be excited.

Stay loyal and steady in your believing, and then you will be fully alive in this life, not sitting it out. Not dismissing yourself from divine opportunities. Not believing you are unworthy. Not assuming you aren’t good enough. NO! This is you showing up, and you showing up with the best of you. With your energy, your excitement, and your faith, knowing your God is on the scene and working for you!

Now is a good time for you to declare, “I’m excited.”

And you can be, if you’ve talked to God about this day. I’m excited to see how God is going to show up for you. I’m excited for you to see his goodness on beautiful display. I’m excited for his power to be unleashed in your life. I’m excited for you to see his hand at work in the details of today. I’m excited for you to trade your anxiety for this loyal and steady believing!

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