How to Slow Down and Seek Peace

By: Sarah Geringer

In a season of hurry and hustle, it’s hard to slow down and seek peace.

But God called me to do that last year, and maybe he’s calling you to do that in your current season.

In the spring of 2017, I was frustrated with a discouraging situation. I had tried so very hard to keep everything going, and it was falling apart despite my hard-working efforts.

When I received an opportunity to escape the situation, I thought it looked like a perfect offering of freedom. The beauty of that opportunity caused me to hurry and hustle to apply for it.

After rounds of interviews, I felt oh-so-close to a peaceful answer. But one late afternoon, the opportunity door closed firmly in my face.

Instead of crying in front of my kids before I cooked supper, I shut myself in my car and let the tears flow. I said out loud to God, "I know YOU know why this happened, and even though I don't understand, I'm trusting You."

Slow Down

Later that week, I watched a teaching video by Shauna Niequist, author of Present Over Perfect. Shauna boldly spoke about her quest to be responsible, efficient, capable, deadline-oriented, and "on" all the time. She talked about how that quest sucked the life out of her and damaged her family relationships.

The Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Are you listening?" It was as if God and I were having a private conversation, even though Shauna's message recorded a year before it was playing on a computer screen in front of my eyes.

She talked about feeling more like a soldier than a daughter.

She talked about feeling more like a valuable player than a treasured child.

She said, "If I exhausted myself often enough, at least it proved my worth."

Can you relate? Do you feel valued only when you produce "enough," like I do?

The problem is, enough never comes. At least in this hurry and hustle paced world that never stops demanding more from us.

Seek Peace

Shauna went on sabbatical. She started basking in times of silence, where she found God's unconditional love in abundance. She learned a well-tended soul is more important than a quickly-produced product.

I thought about the past few years, when I've pushed myself to the limit to be productive yet ended up burnt out and unhappy.

I thought about the recent "no" and realized God was protecting me from falling right back into the fast-paced, soul-draining trap I've been in. Now, with the benefit of more hindsight, I can see the protection even more clearly.

God created me to live a well-cultivated life with regular rhythms of work, play, rest and worship. That’s the life he designed for you too, friend. We weren’t meant to hurry and hustle all the time.

Peace Instead of Hurry and Hustle

There's nothing wrong with being super-productive for a season, like at harvest time. But when season after season is paced like harvest, I don't have any time to let the ground rest, plant new seeds, and marvel at new growth and quiet beauty.

So the new path I'm taking looks like this: I'm not seeking ANYTHING that destroys the heartbeat-paced, durable, and beautiful life I'm created to live.

After the no in 2017, I trusted God to lead me on a more peaceful path. Jesus never hurried, and he’s teaching me to slow down. I was putting the pressure to hurry and hustle on myself. 

Now I'm walking a peaceful path with confidence in God, even though I still don't know where it leads. It feels so much better than how I was hurrying and hustling in the past, and I’m enjoying the slower pace. Peace-filled and more in-step with Jesus’ pace.

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Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings and God's peace to you,

Sarah Geringer
Finding Peace in God's Word

Photo from Canva.com

Reflection questions:

1. Look at your schedule. What is tied to hurry and hustle that you can eliminate?

2. What practical step can you take today to slow down and seek God's peace?