I Had to Learn How to Unwork
October 11, 2026
I Had to Learn How to Unwork
“Life takes sacrifice.”
“Success takes hard work.”
“Achievement comes at a cost.”
“And if you chose medicine? Well, exhaustion is just part of the deal.”
At least, that’s what we’ve been taught.
But I’ve started questioning how much of what we call a “strong work ethic” is actually biblical, and how much of it is simply cultural thinking we’ve carried with us into life on this side of the cross.
I grew up on a dairy farm in a German farm family. There were two things my dad made very clear growing up:
Work hard. And be in church every Sunday.
I became very good at both.
Through nearly every stage of my life, I recognized that I could outwork a lot of people around me.
I was physically strong.
I could log more hours.
I could function on less rest.
And I was especially proud of my ability to multitask.
I wore productivity like a badge of honor.
Until eventually, that way of living led me to exhaustion, frustration, declining health, and a loss of purpose.
Then God began teaching me something very different.
He began teaching me about partnership.
About co-laboring with Him.
About what “Be still, and know that I am God” actually looks like when applied to everyday life.
And over the past few years, I have had to learn how to unwork.
Not stop working.
Unwork.
I still believe in a strong work ethic. But I define it very differently today.
A strong work ethic is no longer my willingness to push until everything on my task list is finished.
It is my willingness to faithfully work on what my Heavenly Father has actually given me to do.
That changes everything.
Even multitasking has become a signal for me.
When I notice myself juggling too many things at once, I have learned to ask:
God, what is actually my assignment right now?
What am I carrying today that belongs to another day, another person, or perhaps was never mine to carry at all?
From the outside looking in, I may still appear to be that hard-working, multitasking girl running the achievement race.
But something is radically different on the inside.
I have never been more comfortable resting.
Waiting.
Listening.
And allowing God to speak before I step.
I still need reminders. Every few weeks, my internal “stress signal” illuminates again.
Instead of automatically working harder, I am learning to treat stress like a signal that deserves a diagnostic exam:
Why am I feeling this pressure?
Very often, I discover the same thing.
I am trying to outrun God’s timing.
I am trying to complete something He hasn’t asked me to complete yet.
That isn’t the life Jesus described.
Jesus said:
“My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
— Matthew 11:30
Notice that a yoke is still an instrument of work.
Jesus wasn’t inviting us to accomplish nothing. He was showing us a different way to work.
We were created for partnership with Him.
We are the vessel. He leads. He empowers. He steers.
When we stop resisting His leadership, something remarkable happens:
We can unwork without becoming unproductive.
We stop measuring faithfulness by exhaustion.
We stop assuming that every opportunity is our assignment.
We stop believing that accomplishing more automatically means we are stewarding our lives better.
And sometimes, by doing less of what we decided needed to be done, God accomplishes far more through us.
This week, before you push harder, add another task, or say yes to one more responsibility, spend some time with God and ask:
“Father, is this my assignment right now?”
Then pay attention.
You may find yourself saying no to things you normally would have said yes to.
You may find yourself worshiping instead of trudging through another hour of work.
You may discover that you can rest without guilt.
And you may discover that the answer to accomplishing what God has called you to do isn’t learning how to work harder.
It might be learning how to unwork.
“For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest…”
— Hebrews 4:10-11a NKJV