2/26/25
Hey friends, welcome back to Another Beautiful Life! Episode number 184 – When the Struggle is Real. I’m so grateful you’re here today because I want to have a real and honest conversation with you.
So, let me just tell you—these past few days have been tough. I’ve had to pull out every single tool from my toolbox just to keep my mind and emotions in check. And you know what? That’s okay.
Because here’s the truth: Not every day is going to be great. We’re not promised a life without struggles. In fact, before Jesus left this earth, He told us we were going to have troubles – John 16, verse 33. I feel like I’ve been quoting that scripture a lot lately. But we are given tools. We have the power to renew our minds, to calm our nervous system, and—most importantly—to hear the truth of God speaking over us. To hear the rest of John 16:33 – those two pieces of bread on either side of that trouble sandwich – okay that’s a little corny – Anyway, Jesus says, “Hey, I’m telling you these things so that you might have peace. Take heart, because whatever you’re dealing with in the world, I can make peace reign within it.” Yeah, He’s literally saying you can have peace right in the middle of your hard, your struggle, your pain. It’s a supernatural peace, for sure. In John 14, verse 27, Jesus says “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” His desire for us is that we live in peace, no matter what.
So, we know we’re going to go through it here on earth. For all kinds of reasons. We may have loved ones die, have broken relationships, we may experience the infidelity of a spouse, we may lose our job that threatens everything. Or we may just be sad and have no idea why. Either way, the Bible is telling us to find peace in it. Find joy in the trial – James 1:2. But we have to have the tools that calms that crazy emotional brain so that we can think straight. So we can hear truth and apply it.
So, today, I want to take you behind the scenes of my own struggles these past few days and show you how I used the very tools I teach you to shift my thinking, regulate my emotions, and anchor myself in God’s truth. My prayer is that by the end of this episode, you’ll be reminded that you’re not alone in your struggles and that you won’t feel shame for having troubles as you go along in this life. But that you’ll feel empowered to use the tools in your own life when the hard days come.
Let’s dive in.
So, right off the bat, can we just validate that we all struggle from time to time? Can we just normalize the emotional ups and downs of being human? After all, and you’ve heard me say this a time or two, God created us to experience all the emotions. Every emotion available to humans. But, there’s this unspoken expectation in Christian circles that if we just have enough faith, we should be happy all the time. But that’s not reality. Even Jesus had hard days—He wept, He got tired and worn out and had to withdraw to be alone, He felt deep emotions.
This past week, I found myself feeling a little withdrawn and numb. By the way, my coaching clients will love hearing that I got out my Feelings Wheel to home in on those nuanced feelings. I’ve also been feeling a little unmotivated and discouraged and maybe even a little sad. My thoughts were running wild:
What if I’m not making enough of an impact?
What if things don’t work out the way I hoped?
Why am I feeling so distant from life?
Where is my motivation?
What am I supposed to be doing?
Ugh, where’s the chocolate ice cream?
I know you’ve probably had moments like this too—when your thoughts start spiraling, and your emotions follow right behind. And when that happens, it’s tempting to either numb out or let the thoughts take over completely. But here’s where the work begins—this is where we practice everything we’ve been learning together. This is where we integrate brain science and Biblical faith.
So, I want to walk you through exactly what I did these past few days to get my mind and emotions back on track. These are 4 steps you can take to get you to that place of peace God so longs for you to experience. 4 steps.
Step 1: Recognizing the Thought Spiral
The first thing I had to do was catch my thoughts. This is awareness, right? And awareness is the key to change. You know from other past episodes that it’s the thoughts that create the emotions. So, we start there. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that we are to “take every thought captive to obey Christ.” But we can’t take a thought captive if we don’t recognize it in the first place. So, I sat down with my journal and wrote down every negative thought swirling in my mind. You may recognize this as a Thought Download that I talk about in Episode 171 – Tools For Emotional Overwhelm. And once I saw them on paper, I asked myself:
Is this thought actually true?
Is this thought aligned with God’s promises or what He would say to me?
What is this thought producing in me—peace or fear?
And I realized… most of my thoughts weren’t based on truth. They were based on fear. Some of them, based on old, old messages of the past.
Step 2: Calming My Nervous System
Once I identified the lies, I knew I had to reset my nervous system because when we’re stressed or anxious, our bodies get stuck in survival mode. And when that happens, it’s nearly impossible to hear God’s voice or think rationally.
Here’s what I did:
Box Breathing – I laid on my bed, put one hand on my heart and one on my belly and I breathed deeply, intentionally. Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4, and hold for 4. This helped slow my heart rate and bring my body back to a state of peace. Intentionally breathing this way also elevates the prefrontal cortex that regulates the emotional brain and calms it down.
Movement – I went outside for a walk, letting my body release built-up tension.
And, while I was out there, I did Step 3: Listened to some good teaching and instruction
There are so many resources out there that are good, sound instruction on how to retrain or renew your mind. But actually, I listened to my own episode on Motivation, number 179 because I knew lack of motivation was one of my issues. I was feeling a general malaise with no real source I could find. And really listened to myself when I said, “Remember, there are going to be several places in your journey to reach your goal – not just six weeks or 3 months – that you’re going to hit a wall. And that wall may look like you’re no longer motivated, or you’re discouraged, or you don’t see progress forward or growth in what you’re trying to accomplish, or even rejection from others – whatever you think is a failure. If you push yourself though the 6-week wall and the 3-month wall, you’ve just created evidence that you’re resilient, that you can climb over the wall, push over the obstacle, that nothing is going to stop you. And as you do this one day at a time, one day you’ll look up and you’ll have hit your goal.” Sometimes, we need a good talking to. Even if it’s from ourselves. I needed to hear that truth. And it felt like someone had taken defibrillator paddles and given me an electric jolt to the heart.
Step 4: Replacing Lies with Truth
Once I had my thoughts written down and my nervous system regulated and my mind redirected enough to be able to think more clearly, I went to the one who created me and knows me best, my Heavenly Father. Just placing myself quietly before Him to hear His still, small voice.
I asked myself: What does God say about this?
I took every fearful thought and replaced it with Scripture:
Instead of “I’m not making enough of an impact,” I reminded myself of Isaiah 55:11 – “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty.”
Instead of “What if things don’t work out?” I leaned into Romans 8:28 – “In all things, God works for the good of those who love him.”
Instead of “I feel unmotivated,” I declared Psalm 37:23 – “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him.”
And instead of “What am I supposed to be doing?” I remembered Ephesians 2:10 – “ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
And little by little, the anxiety lifted. My heart felt lighter.
And it’s funny, that’s when I remembered that at church on Sunday, our guest speaker was Pastor Chris Brooks from Tennessee who spoke on spiritual warfare. It’s like a fog lifted and so many things came flooding into my memory. Pastor Brooks said that we are in a very real, very constant spiritual battle. And sadly, most of us are unaware of it. He said, “The adversary’s scheme is to distract you so he can deceive you. He wants to keep you afraid, isolated, feeling alone. He wants to set us up so that we destroy ourselves.” Pastor Brooks then told us about a 4th century Monk, Evagrius (Avagarus) of Pontus, who wrote a letter that was later made into a book titled, Talking Back: A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons. Pastor said, “What if there was a high school senior’s handbook for combating demons?” and I remember thinking then, “What if there was a middle-aged widow’s handbook for combating demons?” So, I bought Evagrius’ book and it arrived yesterday. I’ll tag his book in the show notes. His entries begin with, “Against the thought that (fill in the blank) that’s making me feel (blank)” and then he gives scripture to “Talk Back” (again, the title of his book) against that thought. I love that he recognized that the thoughts are making him feel a certain way. And his answer is the truth of scripture. Replacing lies with truth.
Now, I’m not one to believe in coincidences. I believe that God had this all teed up for me. He knew what these past few days were going to look like for me, and He – being an alive and active God – began working to get me back to a renewed mind. So that the adversary could not distract and deceive me. Nor could he continue to lead me down a path so that I destroy myself. And by that I mean, anytime I am believing lies, listening to lies, living in lies, I am participating in my own self-destruction. It puts me far away from truth and further and further away from God.
Friend, I don’t know what you might be struggling with today. Maybe your mind is racing with anxious thoughts. Maybe you’re feeling stuck, discouraged, or overwhelmed, or even just sad. I want you to know—you are not alone. The enemy wants you to believe that you’re stuck in this place forever, but that is a lie. God has given you tools. You have the power to take your thoughts captive, calm your nervous system, and anchor yourself in truth.
So here’s my challenge for you this week: Start paying attention to your thoughts. That awareness, right? Write them down. Use a breathing exercise or something that recenters you when you feel overwhelmed. And replace fear, loneliness, that general malaise with Scripture.
And remember—renewing your mind is a daily practice. Some days will be harder than others. But the more you practice, the easier it becomes to shift your thoughts and emotions before they spiral out of control. God is with you, alive and active in your life, still speaking, still longing for you to live in peace. Even when the struggle is real.
If this episode encouraged you today, I’d love to hear from you! Send me a message or share your thoughts in the comments on the Facebook or Instagram post – my profile for both is triciazody. Let’s make sure we’re connected there.
And if you want to go deeper into this topic, don’t forget to grab my Listener’s Guide, where I walk you through these practical steps to renew your mind. The link is in the show notes.
Have a wonderful week, friends. See you next Wednesday for the next episode of Another Beautiful Life.
SHOW NOTES:
Not every day is going to be great. We’re not promised a life without struggles. In fact, before Jesus left this earth, He told us we were going to have troubles – John 16:33. What do we do about that? How do we continue on when things of this earth make us sad or heartbroken or frozen in fear?
There is an answer. In fact, there are 4 steps that can get you back to peace and moving forward.
Today, I want to take you behind the scenes of my own struggles these past few days and show you how I used the very tools I teach you to shift my thinking, regulate my emotions, and anchor myself in God’s truth.
Resources Mentioned:
· Another Beautiful Life: A Christian’s Journey to Finding Peace and Healing in Brokenness by Tricia Zody https://a.co/d/hoPKsBO on Amazon
· For more tools, questions for reflection, and resources to help you on your journey, download the Listener's Guide for this episode: https://www.triciazody.com/guide
Scriptures Mentioned:
· John 16:33, John 14:27, James 1:2, 2 Corinthians 10:5, Isaiah 55:11, Romans 8:28, Psalm 37:23, Ephesians 2:10
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