What If Rest Is Actually How We Work?

August 9, 2026

What If Rest Is Actually How We Work?

Summer is wrapping up, and my kids are headed back to school.

The slower rhythms of summer are giving way to schedules, routines, activities, and fuller calendars. And as I prepare to step into this next season, I’ve been reflecting on a lesson God has been walking me through all summer:

How do I work from rest?

This lesson really began a couple of years ago with my desire to “Be Still and Know.” — Psalm 46:10.

At first, I thought God was teaching me how to quiet my mind long enough to hear Him. Which it was a great lesson and a very necessary transformation I journeyed through, no doubt.

But then I began asking Him to teach me how to become more like Mary in a Martha world —to sit at His feet, choose His presence, and stop allowing my never-ending task list to dictate my days.

But this summer, the lesson went deeper.

I picked up Melvin Pillay’s book Unwork, and it challenged something in me I hadn’t fully recognized:

I truly do love to work. I can work long days, juggle multiple projects, solve problems, carry responsibility, and keep pushing through more than the average person.

But, somewhere along the way, I had made that part of my identity, unfortunately.

Underneath my strong work ethic was a deeply ingrained belief:

The harder I work, the more successful I will be.

That sounds responsible, right?

But I began asking myself: Is it actually God’s design?

Jesus tells us in the Gospels:

“No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and mammon.”—Matthew 6:24 NKJV

I began recognizing a duality within myself. My heart longed to fully be led by the Spirit and love Jesus. But my mind still believed the responsibility for accomplishing what God had called me to rested on me.

My mind would nudge me and say: “Work more. Try harder. Be responsible. Don’t waste time. God gave you an assignment—so get moving!”

As I realized that was not God’s will, I intentionally sought the understanding of “resting more.”

And then something almost comical happened. I started condemning myself for resting!

Am I taking too many breaks?

Am I working enough?

Am I neglecting my assignment?

Did I just swing the pendulum too far in the other direction?

But this week as my summer is wrapping up, God emphasized Romans 8:1–2 to me:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

It stopped me in my tracks. I substituted the word “sin” for overworking, hard work ethic, responsibility to achieve…. wow!

God calls us to do work whole heartedly, but He does not actually instruct us to work hard or work until you achieve…. does He?

Maybe the question was never:

“Am I working too little or too much?”

Maybe the better question is:

 “Am I working according to the Spirit?”

And in that moment of reflection while reading this passage, I discovered something remarkable.

The more time I spend in God’s presence, the more my task list seems to shrink and time seems to bend. It’s fascinating.

I realized this summer as I transitioned into this “unwork” mindset, that now when I finally sit down to work, ideas come faster. Decisions become clearer. The right next step becomes obvious. What once took hours of striving can happen in moments of Spirit-led clarity.

And work begins to feel… lighter.

Almost like rest.

Maybe unwork isn’t about working less. Maybe it’s just about striving less and waiting on God to say it’s time to work and it’s time to sit in presence with me, or with the person I sent you.

It’s releasing the belief that the outcome depends upon how hard I work and trusting God with the weight of the assignment—while I remain close enough to hear what He is asking me to do next.

So as summer closes and I return to routine, I don’t want to return to my old way of working.

I want to work from rest and “unwork.” To stay led by the Spirit. To not feel condemnation for the law of “responsibility” or “hard work” that too often dominated my life.

I want to listen and hear God’s still small voice downloading divine strategies and solutions and recognizing the divine orchestrations He has sent me to accomplish it according to His plan. And to move when He moves me.

As you step into your own next season, I invite you to sit with God and ask:

Lord, where have I confused striving with faithfulness?

Where am I carrying responsibility for an outcome that is already a finished work in You, Lord?

Where have I believed that if I just work harder, stay later, log more hours, or strive for more knowledge, I can somehow guarantee the outcome?

And what would change if I truly believed that my responsibility is not to carry the weight of the assignment—but to remain close enough to You to hear what You are asking me to do next?

Maybe working from rest begins there. Not with doing more or less.

But with trusting more.

“ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
— Romans 8:1-2 NKJV