244. 6 Ways to Manage Anxiety and Walk in God's Peace

244. 6 Ways to Manage Anxiety and Walk in God's Peace

What drives someone to seek a life with less fear and more peace? Heidi Mortenson, a licensed marriage and family therapist and committed Christian, takes on that question by unpacking six practical ways to handle anxiety while staying grounded in God’s peace. Speaking honestly about her own worries – including anxiety about recording podcasts – she normalises the experience: “The question isn’t whether you’ve experienced anxiety… but the question is, what’s driving your life?

Fear or faith?” From there, she mixes solid mental health education with scripture, giving this episode a warm blend of therapy room and Bible study. You’ll hear clear explanations of anxiety, from everyday worries to diagnosed disorders, and how it can hide behind things that look “spiritual” or “responsible” – over-functioning, people-pleasing, perfectionism, or trying to be a “super Christian”.

She walks through six steps: noticing what anxiety is doing for you, separating it from your identity, casting anxieties onto Jesus, feeling emotions without letting them run the show, embracing your humanity, and focusing on what God is doing with gratitude. Heidi uses everyday examples (like planning a party) to show how to turn anxious thoughts into a conversation with God instead of a shame spiral.

She also challenges generational labels such as “our family just has anxiety”, and speaks directly to that with prayer and identity in Christ. For Christians who deal with anxiety, trauma, or over-responsibility – and for those supporting loved ones – this episode offers both spiritual reassurance and practical tools. Expect gentle conviction, plenty of scripture, and a reminder that peace comes less from trying harder and more from learning, as she puts it, that “peace doesn’t come from control.

It comes from surrender.” Ready to ask whether fear or faith is in the driver’s seat of your life?