Is Your Anxiety & Worry Coming From Divided Loyalty? (Mine Was)

Hey Friend!

With everything going on in the world, it’s understandable if you feel some anxiety from time to time. I struggle with it, too, sometimes.

Sometimes, to escape the stresses of life, we do things that distract us, such as scrolling on social media or watching endless TikToks for a quick dopamine rush. Unfortunately, this brings us to a space of divided loyalty in our hearts and can make our anxious feelings go from bad to worse. 

Divided loyalty often occurs when we are feeling anxious or nervous about something in our lives. Too often, we turn to other things instead of God, and Christians can all too easily fall into this trap.

I recently had a massive recalibration of what I needed to focus on in my life. God had some profound words for me about the divided loyalty that I have been struggling with, and I want to share them with you because I think you may be able to relate.

Keep reading to discover what God showed me about overcoming divided loyalty.

Do You Struggle With Divided Loyalty?

I met with a spiritual growth mentor because I was struggling with worry and obsessive thoughts. For example, most mornings, I would wake up with intense feelings of dread and heaviness. I brought my thoughts to her, and we ended up having an incredible call with many breakthroughs. She helped me see areas of divided loyalty in my heart, and I learned some helpful tips on overcoming divided loyalty. I want to share them with you. 

She helped me trace back to traumatic events that happened in my past, specifically around the age of seven or eight. At that age, my parents got divorced. I ended up moving and went from a two-income family to a single mom. My mom worked two jobs. Many things were going on for me at that delicate age, and I realized that I was projecting a lot of stuff from my past into my current reality. 

So many of us experience life based on perceptions that we glean from childhood. In my call with my mentor, I realized that recently, I have been so stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, and heavy because of my past baggage. 

Divided Loyalty Often Comes from Distractions of Daily Life

After realizing where my anxiety comes from, she brought up a concept to me. She said, “If Satan keeps you distracted and focused on the noise, you miss the peace of God,” She asked me, “How often are you working on these things with God?” 

I responded, “Oh, yeah, sometimes,” but then I realized I was not. That day, I committed to sit with the Lord about these issues because I knew if anyone could take this off me, it was Him.

Are You Spending Time With God?

I should have come to God with my worries a while ago, but I kept making excuses. I was struggling with divided loyalty. My excuses were that I had to exercise or watch a few YouTube Shorts. Nothing is wrong with those in moderation, but they continued to feed my anxiety and worry. 

I was also worried about my son, who is about to enter sixth grade. I wasn’t sure if he should go to a STEM magnet public school in the community that we love or a Christian private school in town. The overwhelming decision that I could not seem to make has been extraordinarily debilitating for me, but I wasn’t relinquishing it to God. I wasn’t sitting in His peacefulness and His presence.

The Word of God is the Solution to Overcoming Divided Loyalty Struggles

The Word of God is the solution to overcoming divided loyalty. After my conversation with my spiritual growth mentor, God gave me some direction through James 1:5. 

“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.” (James 1:5, NLT) 

After reading the verse, I started journaling. I asked God for wisdom in all these areas of my life and realized He would give it to me. He won’t rebuke me, but His word says, “…be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind.”

And guess what? I’ve been unsettled. This made me wonder where my divided loyalty came from.

Divided Loyalty Sometimes Shows Up As An Idol in Your Life

I did a little bit of a deeper dive, and I realized I have a lot of split loyalties right now. And maybe you do, too. We as Christians have to search the corners of our hearts because often, we don’t even see it. 

We are to be loyal to God alone. We see these things we might idolize when we look inward at ourselves. You may think I don’t use social media, alcohol, or spend money. However, idolatry is defined as anything that we look to more than God. Let that sit with you for a hot minute. I pretty much look at my phone a lot more than I am looking at the Bible. 

HOMEWORK: Find a quiet place. Pray and ask God to reveal areas where you struggle with idols and divided loyalty. Take out a pen and paper, and write down the areas where you struggle with idols. 

→ My divided loyalty is that I idolize staying busy. I don’t know when I was bored, and I am not really comfortable having nothing to do. 

→ Another idol I struggle with is control. I am so focused on the safety of my children that it’s almost to the detriment of my trust in God’s plan for their lives. I will send my son to whatever school God says to because it is not up to me. It’s up to God.

Do You Idolize Your Phone?

I recently saw a short video clip in which a man demonstrates how cell phones often interfere with our time with God and our loved ones. 

In the video, he walks to the hallway and reads his Bible. He’s in the car, looking at his Bible. His kids are talking to him, and he looks down at his Bible and he looks up. Guys, that’s what we usually do with our phones. Watching that video was so convicting to me. 

We are all guilty of this, right? We are all guilty in this day and age when our phones have become the new normal. Busy has become the new bored. Politicizing everything has become a way of life. Polarizing people is expected. All these pieces have become second nature in our lives. Maybe, just maybe, that is the source of our stress, anxiety, and worry.

Ask God for Wisdom to Help Overcome Divided Loyalty

After I reflected on the divided loyalty in my heart (the idols I still carry with me and how much time I waste on things that aren’t life-giving), I ended up sitting with God and releasing it all to Him. 

If you are struggling with anxiety, worry, stress, idols, or divided loyalty today, please say this prayer with me. Or, read it as an example of a prayer you can pray when you struggle with anxiety or divided loyalty.

A Prayer to Overcome Anxiety and Divided Loyalty in Your Life

 Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and take this away from me. Lift these worries, this anxiety.  Father God, I release and relinquish these idols I’ve been coveting. I ask You to take these handcuffs of control and this focus on business and doing, and I ask You to crush it in the name of Jesus Christ.

Father, I ask You to take my children whom You love more than me and show me the way. Your will is the way. I ask You to lead me in it. I do not want to be in control of it; I want to partner with you in it. Father, I ask You to realign my heart in a posture of undivided loyalty. 

Convict me of the things I am looking to more than You and remove them from my life. I trust You, Lord. I believe in Your purpose and will over my life, business, family, marriage, children, motherhood, myself, body, and health. All of it is Yours.

And I pray that You will hear me in my desire to have undivided focus and faith in You. Sorry if I haven’t. Thank You for Your grace, goodness, forgiveness, tenderness, and compassion. I am grateful for Your love of me. 

Thank You for helping me through it. I pray for peace. I swap peace for anxiousness—calm instead of chaos. I give You my burdened mind. In return, I receive a calm, clear, purposeful mind that is intentionally focused on what You are calling forward from me every day so that I can glorify You in my actions. I can look to You more than my phone and lean on You more than the screen. I can look up verses instead of what to do on chat GPT. Father, I relinquish all of it to You. Thank You for loving me through this and being beside me. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Your Journey to Undivided Loyalty Starts Here

I share with you the prayers I pray because I have an inkling that you might be feeling similar worries or anxiety in your heart. Friend, if you are, head to James 1:5 and do a deep dive. Do an inventory and journal because I promise God has a solution for you. 

The worry and stress you are dealing with do not belong in your heart or mind for one more day. God has a way for you. He’s full of peace, provision, and faithfulness. We have to ask Him for it. I’m sending you a big hug. I hope this encourages you. I hope this shows you that I’m a human and fail. But we are all in this together, and God is our strength. I love you—big hugs.

I pray this blesses you!

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