the silent killer

Slowly, Then all at Once: How Stress Kills You

A conversation sparked on X today on a topic i know too well so i decided to go deeper - (If they stress you they want you dead) I used to think stress was just a feeling…just a tight chest or a restless mind. Something that could be walked off or talked through. But the more I studied, the more I lived, the more I witnessed my own body under pressure, the more I realized: stress is not a feeling. It’s a spirit. A parasitic, shape shifting force that feeds on delay, disconnection, and disbelief. It creeps in through the cracks of your soul…quiet, justifiable, even celebrated in this world. And most likely by the time you notice it’s killing you, it already has.

Not only does stress cause burnout. It hijacks the nervous system. It floods the body with cortisol, clogs the brain with static, breaks down the gut lining, steals your sleep, silences your libido, shortens your breath, accelerates aging, spikes inflammation, and tricks you into believing this is normal. You probably felt your chest tighten just reading that. Chronic stress rewires the brain to live in survival mode. It becomes your baseline. And when your baseline is chaos, your body no longer prioritizes healing. It’s too busy trying to survive. Fertility? Shut down. Digestion? Shut down. Creativity? Gone. Clear thoughts? Gone. Tenderness? Gone.

And know that stress isn’t just physical. It’s spiritual warfare. The enemy doesn’t need to send a demon if he can just keep you busy, distracted, chronically activated. If he can have you addicted to productivity, to scrolling on social media, to arguments, to performance, he can strip you of your discernment, your patience, your health, your beauty, your connection to God. And he’ll do it while making you believe you’re just being responsible. That you’re doing the right thing by grinding yourself into the ground. This is why Scripture doesn’t just speak of peace as a luxury —it speaks of it as a command. Be anxious for nothing. Do not worry about your life. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives. God never asked us to be hypervigilant. He asked us to rest.

I’ve learned that stress kills in silence. It doesn’t throw tantrums. It doesn’t always leave bruises. It erodes. It builds inside your blood, your tissues, and your bones. It steals from your skin. It hollows out your eyes. This is why you always hear of stress taking away your beauty. It puts you in relationships that mimic your nervous system’s dysregulation…..chaotic, unpredictable, neglectful. It pulls you away from the rhythms of nature, from slow meals and laughter and fresh air. And it does something even darker; it convinces you this is what adulthood is. That peace is laziness. That burnout is some sort of virtue. That constant worry is love.

Love is not stress. God who IS love, is not stress. The body was not created to constantly defend itself. There is a reason Scripture tells us to cast our cares, to enter the secret place, to be still and know. There is no knowing in noise. There is no healing in cortisol. Stress makes you a stranger to your own soul. It numbs the language of your body, so you miss every signal…until the breakdown comes. Until you can’t get out of bed. Until the diagnosis. Until the panic attacks. Until your heart gives out.

It may sound a bit dramatic to some but I’ve started to see stress as an idol. As the false god this world worships. The system rewards stress with money, titles, praise but it costs us everything sacred. It costs us our gentleness. Our beauty. Our ability to hear the voice of God. It costs us the garden inside of us. The garden that grows only in rest, only in trust, only in still waters and slow mornings and real fruit. I don’t want the hustle if it hardens me. I don’t want the grind if it robs me of my softness. I want to live the way God intended…..with rhythm, with rest, with faith that I am provided for, even when I am still. If you havent already read through my cries on this

God Didn't Design Us For This

Stress isn’t just a killer of bodies. It’s a killer of communion. And the scariest part? We normalize it. We glorify it. We call it success.

I’m no longer interested in a success that costs me my peace. I’d rather live close to the ground. Close to the trees. Close to the quiet things God created to heal me. I’ve seen what stress can do. And I’ve tasted what peace can restore. Like honey, everlasting, infinitely medicinal, always sweet.