When God Slows Us Down

It's been about a month since I last sat down to write, and honestly, I've missed these conversations.

When I looked ahead at this season, I had plans. I had blog posts outlined, projects I wanted to finish, and routines I fully intended to get back into after surgery. I pictured myself recovering for a little while, easing back into normal life, and picking up right where I left off.

Life had other plans.

Recovery took more out of me than I expected, work continued to demand my attention, family life didn't pause, and before I knew it, an entire month had slipped by. I kept thinking, I'll write tomorrow. Then tomorrow became next week, and next week quietly turned into a month.

At first, I was frustrated with myself. I don't like feeling behind. I like making progress, checking things off my list, and ending the day feeling like I've moved something forward. Instead, I looked around and saw all the places where I wasn't keeping up. The house was getting the basics, but not much more. My work had slowed down. Even my time with the Lord wasn't what I wanted it to be. I knew things were slipping, and if I'm being honest, I carried more guilt than I should have.

As I sat with those feelings, I realized how quickly I had started measuring myself by everything I wasn't accomplishing instead of remembering who God had called me to be. Somewhere along the way, I had quietly started believing that faithfulness looked like keeping every plate spinning, every room clean, every responsibility managed, and every routine perfectly intact.

But that's never been what God asked of me.

One morning during my Bible reading, I came across a verse I've read many times before. This time, though, it felt as though the Lord had highlighted it just for this season.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." — Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

It was those words, I will uphold you, that I couldn't stop thinking about.

I realized I had been working so hard to hold everything together that I had forgotten I was never meant to carry it all in the first place. God wasn't asking me to prove my strength. He was inviting me to lean into His.

Looking back now, I don't think this past month was simply an interruption to my plans. I think it was a gentle invitation to slow down. To loosen my grip on productivity and remember that my relationship with God has never been built on performance.

Some of the sweetest moments I've had with Him didn't happen during long, uninterrupted quiet times. They happened in whispered prayers while folding laundry, during slow mornings when my body needed more rest than I wanted to give it, and in the simple reminder that His presence had never left just because my routines had.

Maybe that's what I've needed to learn all along.

Maybe slowing down isn't always something to resist.

Maybe sometimes it's one of God's greatest gifts.