For weeks, my mind was consumed with work—meeting deadlines, brainstorming new ideas, making plans, and pouring my heart into a new project. The more time and energy I gave the work, the more I gravitated toward it. Momentum took over. Like a magnet impossible to resist, the unfinished project pulled at my mind, energy, and emotions, making “just one more email” or “one last edit” impossible to resist.

I loved what I was doing. Good work. “God work.” It became easy for me to justify the other sacrifices I was making: letting the TV babysit my son a little longer than I planned, failing to get groceries for the third day in a row, thinking about the project even as I sat at the dinner table, my three-year-old asking “May I have some milk?” for the fourth time because I had failed to respond.

I’m a big believer in working hard—that God doesn’t just plop the end result in our laps. All talk and no action “only leads to poverty” (Prov. 14:23, ESV). We actually need to do the work He calls us to.

But my vision had been compromised. I had lost sight of my “why,” and instead of working “heartily, as for the Lord” (Col. 3:23, ESV), I was working ravenously, as unto myself. My diligence was no longer out of obedience but instead had turned to striving. I felt like Solomon, who wrote, “I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecc. 2:11, ESV).

When we shift from service to striving—from God-led to greedy grasping to make things happen—our souls pay the price. While God wants us to work hard, He doesn’t want us to be consumed by it. That’s when we cross the line into vanity. Selfishness. Self-importance, even—to think the work won’t get done without us.

How then do we work hard but keep ourselves from striving?

The Antidote

I’ve never been a fan of the phrase work-life balance. As believers, our “work” is intimately attached to how we live out the gospel. We don’t get an on-off switch for that. Life involves work, and work is part of living—and all must be done to the glory of One who is greater. They all kind of weave together, right?

Yet, if “balance” isn’t the antidote to being consumed by our everyday tasks, what else is there?

Stillness.

The only way to fight striving is to be still. Let go. Release the grip. Take a step back. Turn off distractions and walk away. Pursue quiet.

Striving convinces us we can always do more and that we are never enough. It makes us spin and spin and spin our wheels to get ahead, but for what? Discouragement? Discontent? Being beaten down by comparison’s grasp?

Stillness, on the other hand, says, “God, you are enough.” By resting in God, there isn’t an “ahead” or “behind”—but rather, a communion. By being still with God right where we are, we are reminded that our identities aren’t defined by our capacity or achievements, but rather our proximity to the Creator.

The work isn’t about us. It’s about God. And by leaving it unfinished in His capable hands, we reorient our spirits to acknowledge His greatness and our need. Being still is an act of faith and a posture of surrender—the answer to all our striving.

how to be still

A quiet heart doesn’t come easily. Stillness is a discipline we must weave into our life tapestry. It involves choice. It requires recognizing when our motivations turn sour and we need to let go. While stillness may not come naturally, the decision to embrace soulful rest and surrender always results in a richer, deeper, more brilliant life canvas.

Being still certainly isn’t a one-size-fits all. Individually we must pay attention to what quiets our hearts and minds, what keeps us leaning into God. But here are some practical methods we can consider to cultivate inner stillness include:

• Make space for nothingness—time that is unscripted, unplanned, and without expectation.

• Do the opposite of whatever work you do. If you work all day with people, get alone. If you make things with your hands, pick up a book and engage your mind.

• Take a nap.

• Allow yourself 24 hours before saying “yes” to an activity or new project.

• Have your spouse or a friend hide your phone or your computer for a set amount of time.

• Go on a walk.

• Enjoy a bubble bath before bed to promote relaxation and better sleep.

• Leave the building on your lunch hour (don’t take work with you).

• Get up earlier and start the day with solitude, prayer, or reflection.

• Practice deep-breathing. Close your eyes, inhale for a count of seven, hold it for three, and then slowly exhale for another seven count. Repeat until tension begins to decreases.

• Schedule time with a friend. Sometimes, listening and engaging in meaningful conversation can help us resist the urge to turn inward.

• Read God’s Word daily, even if only a few verses.

• Begin a journal. The simple act of stopping and noticing the now can help ward off striving for what’s ahead. 

God is where we must begin, and He is where we must end. Striving only gets in the way. By inviting stillness into our everyday lives, we recognize with our actions that “God is our refuge and our strength” so that at the end of the day we can look at what has unfolded and say with confidence and humility “come and see what the Lord has done” (Ps. 46: 1, 8).

Because everything—all of it—is about Him.  

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
—Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

feature image: Carl Heyerdahl via unsplash