S13.03 | From "What If" to "Even If": A Biblical Approach to Anxiety
What do you do when the "what ifs" won't stop? Carla's natural instinct — and probably yours too — is to talk herself out of it: that's not going to happen. But she's discovered that doesn't actually calm an anxious nervous system, because the what ifs just keep coming back.
In this episode, prompted by real conversations with her son as he headed off to his first year of university, Carla walks through a shift that does bring safety: trading "what if" for "even if." Through the stories of Habakkuk, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and Psalm 23, she shows how "even if" isn't denial - it's a declaration of trust that actually rewires anxious thinking, one nervous system and one neural pathway at a time.
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3 key takeaways
In this episode, Carla covers:
Why trying to convince yourself "it won't happen" doesn't create safety in a triggered nervous system
A personal story from preparing her son, who lives with OCD, for the transition to university
How "even if" — not "it won't happen" — is what actually settles an anxious body
The examples of Habakkuk, Daniel 3 (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), Psalm 23, and Isaiah 43
How repeating "even if" builds new neural pathways (Romans 12:2) so trust becomes more automatic over time
3 Key Takeaways:
Reassurance doesn't regulate your nervous system — trust does. Telling yourself the bad thing won't happen doesn't create safety, because the what ifs keep coming back. What settles your body is knowing you'll be okay even if it does.
"Even if" is a declaration, not denial. Habakkuk, Daniel's three friends, and David in Psalm 23 all faced the real possibility of the worst-case scenario — they didn't pretend otherwise. Their confidence wasn't that hardship wouldn't come, but that God would be with them through it.
Repetition rewires the brain. The more you replace "what if" with "even if," the deeper that neural pathway becomes — until trust, not spiraling, becomes your automatic response to fear.
🔗 Want to Go Deeper?
If this episode felt like it was speaking straight to you - if the what ifs have had a grip on you for a while now - I'd love to talk with you. I offer a free discovery call where we can talk through what you're carrying and figure out together whether walking through this 1:1 is the next right step for you. No pressure, no pitch - just a conversation.
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Resources:
5 Steps to Building Resiliency
Affirming Truths Facebook Community
5 Tips for Overcoming a Negative Body Image
Who You Say I Am Biblical Affirmation Cards
Transcript
Hey friends, it's Carly here. I hope you are doing well. I am finally doing well after a terrible week
of sickness and then moving my son to his first year of university, which has been so exciting.
And in the lead up to going to university, me and my son have had quite a few conversations to
prepare him and support him. If you don't know, my son has a pretty significant OCD that he
struggles with. And we were anticipating and experiencing some OCD triggers with the transition
that's going to happen.
And when we were talking, he was talking, explaining to me the things that OCD was saying.
OCD is like the doubting disorder, people call it. It is a form of anxiety that really has, it's a bully.
And a lot of it is, what if this happens? I touch this, what if this happens? What if my parents die?
What if this happens? I've got to do something to avoid that. And one of the things that I shared
with him, which is also some of the work I do with Christian women that come to me that are
struggling with anxiety, our natural inclination with what ifs when we try to stop the rumination is
to try to say, okay, it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen.
We try to shut down the thought completely. It's not going to happen. I've discovered though that
doing that does not alleve our anxiety.
Having a what if statement and trying to brush it off as, well, that's not going to happen, doesn't
actually create safety in a triggered nervous system. So when we're in high anxiety, when we are
ruminating and spiraling on these what ifs, our nervous system doesn't feel safe. We don't have
safety.
It is hard to get into that parasympathetic system of rest and digest. And when we just try to tell
ourselves that won't happen, it doesn't create safety in our body because the what ifs still remain
and what ifs still come. And I just love the picture in Habakkuk where he says, even if, right, even
if the fig trees are not going to bear fruit, even if, right, there are no grapes on the vines, though
the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no
cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.
I will be joyful in my Savior. The sovereign Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of
deer.
He enables me to tread on the heights. That's Habakkuk 13, 17 to 19. So these what if scenarios
were actually going to happen to Habakkuk.
You know, Habakkuk is saying, why Lord are you going to let all these bad things happen? God
doesn't tell them, don't worry, they're not going to happen. They're going to happen. But Godreminds Habakkuk of who he is, of who God is, and the restoration and all of that that will come.
And so Habakkuk is able to say, even if, I can still rejoice the Lord because he is my strength.
When it talks about having hind feet to bringing him up to high places, that means sure-footed.
I'm going to come out on the other side of this.
And so when we take our what if thoughts, and instead of trying to pretend that will never happen,
and we switch our language to say, even if, even if that happens, God is with me, and I will get to
the other side of that. That statement, that belief, that declaration of even if God is with me, and
I'll get through it, actually does bring safety to the nervous system, because it brings competence.
It brings trust.
Oh, I can trust God. Oh, I can get through it. So even if that happens, I will eventually be okay.
That is the type of security that our nervous system craves in order to find safety and move out of
that constant state of anxiety. And we see examples of this in the Bible in so many places. If we
look in Daniel at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they were being told that they had to serve
other gods, bow down and worship the king, and they were saying no.
And they were threatened, we're going to throw you, we're going to kill you, we're going to throw
you into the furnace. And what do they say in Daniel 3, 17 to 18? If we are thrown into the
blazing, blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from
your majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not
serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.
They were confident that whether God shows up or not, even if I'm going to go forward in faith in
the direction and calling God has for me, even if the worst happens, I have, through the power of
the Holy Spirit, the ability to move through it. And like one of the most comforting Psalms, Psalm
23, even though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art
with me, right? Even though I'm going through this hard time, even though the worst that I thought
would happen happens, even though I'm suffering, even though I have grief, even though I have
loss, I will not fear, for you are with me. And what does it mean if God is with us, that we will get
through the other side.
See, it says, even though I walk through, you're going through the valley, you're going to get to
the other side. You're not pitching a tent there. And it's so important, both from a faith perspective
and our neuroscience, creating new neuropathways perspective, and from a nervous system
physiological perspective, even if builds our faith, even if creates safety in our body, even if is a
declaration for who God is, even if can squash our anxieties.
And guys, I'm not saying that that what if won't try to pop up again, but when we counter it with,
even if I will get through, we create safety and strength within ourselves. And that is so important.
We are overcomers in the Lord, that even if the worst happens, we will get to the other side.And you already have evidence of this in your life, because you're here today. God has already
seen you through some of the hardest things. And yeah, you don't want to go back and relive
them.
I get that. I don't want to go back to the darkest moment of my life. But guess what? God rescued
me out of that.
He's taken me out of that and taken something that was hard and bad and meant for my harm
and used it to refine me and grow me and give me resilience. God is with us and we were
overcome. So when the what ifs come, you command that anxiety to back off through the
statement of even if.
And the more often you say even if, it creates new neural pathways of thinking. And the more
often you say it, the deeper those neural pathways of thinking become, which means those
thoughts become automatic. And you will create a system of thinking that anytime a what if pops
up, even if we'll shoot right back.
This is the renewing of the mind that Romans 12 to talks about creating new neural pathways.
When we talk about God being concerned with our physiology, like I did in the last episode, this is
what I'm talking about. He brings safety.
He cares about us having the capacity to walk in faith by meeting us in our physiology. And when
we allow our nervous system to hear, even if God is with me and we'll get through it, that creates
that deep sigh of safety and security. In Isaiah 43 too, it says, when you pass through the waters,
I will be with you.
And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the
fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze.
This is talking about when you're going through the hard times. This isn't about telling your
nervous system, the worst thing isn't going to happen. This isn't trying to put your anxieties under
the rug with, oh, this is never going to happen.
This is saying, okay, when the waters come, when the fire comes, even if God is with me, I will
get to the other side. So your affirming truth today is even if the what if appears, God is greater
and will see me through. And I take you back to Habakkuk 3, 17 to 19, because it's just so
powerful that though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the
olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle
in the stalls, even if I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The sovereign Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of deer. He enables me to
tread on the heights.Even if, friend, you will come through with God, you can take that to the bank. You are not
walking this life alone. And anxiety doesn't have to be the bondage that you stay in, because
even if God has got you.
I'll talk to you next time.