The Tension Between Abiding and Striving

There has been a surge in trends such as slow living, offline living, and analog hobbies. In a society rushing about to do more and hopefully, one day, become more, many people are pushing back against the grind and seeking to make space for meaningful living. This makes sense when one looks at the average amount of screen time per person per day (6 hours and 40 minutes according to Google). People want their lives back, and I believe this is a good thing.

God designed us for slow living. Not unproductive, lazy lives, but fulfilling lives that aren’t intent on burning themselves out on an endless quest for meaning. God designed humanity in a garden where the work and rhythm was fulfilling rather than draining. In the Law of Moses, God gave the instruction to work six days of the week and rest on the seventh. And Jesus Himself spoke of the power of abiding. God designed us to live with intentionality and purpose. How do abiding and striving balance out practically and biblically?

We Were Created For Work

Before we talk about intentionality and abiding, it’s important to realize that we were created to work. Work, in itself, isn’t evil. In fact, God designed humanity to work, build, create, and steward the earth. The Garden of Eden wasn’t a place of endless leisure with nothing to do. Adam’s first job was naming animals, and then tending to the garden. His larger mandate, alongside Eve, was to make the rest of the world look like the Garden of Eden.

And God called this good. Work is part of our design, and God prepared the right work for us long before we even existed.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” – Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

But there is a danger here too. The moment that work becomes your master is the moment you have deviated from God-given purpose. When work becomes what defines you rather than an expression of who God made you to be, work becomes idolatry. Tim Challies, author of Do More Better, says the following:

“Productivity is not what will bring purpose to your life, but what will enable you to excel in living out your existing purpose.”

Many give their all to work and still find no purpose because work was never meant to give them meaning in the first place. This leads them to live a life of endless productivity without meaning and eventually they burn out. Why? Because work is meant to be the outer expression of who God already made you to be and the purpose He’s already given you. Work wasn’t meant to be the thing that gives you value and meaning. Only God can do that.

We Were Created For Abiding

And yet, we must all work. But the key is to learn to work from a place of abiding rather than a place of striving. Jesus spoke about this in John 15:4:

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” – John 15:4 (NKJV)

Here, the word abide means to stay in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy. It carries the meaning of staying present and continuing in relationship with Jesus. It is making your home with Jesus and persevering in your fellowship with Him.

Jesus states that our lives will be unfruitful unless we learn to stay present with Him and cultivate our relationship with Him. When we abide, our lives and work become fruitful rather than an endless quest for purpose. Abiding becomes an expression of our continuing relationship with God and it causes our work life to become meaningful not out of striving but out of intentionality.

On the other hand, striving means making a persistent and continuous effort or trying very hard to achieve something. The world says that if you do more and try harder, you will find purpose and meaning. God says that if you intentionally cultivate your relationship with Him and let work be an outflow, you will find purpose and meaning.

The Bible was advocating for slow and intentional living long before it became a trend.

What Does Slow Living Look Like Biblically?

So then, what does slow living look like Biblically? How can we abide while still working? There are a few practical things we can do to intentionally live and intentionally work without losing our focus:

1. Prioritize your relationship with God.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5 (NKJV)

Without abiding in Christ, we can do nothing effectively. When we live connected to God we will be plugged in to the source of our life and meaning. Our work will be rooted in Him.

2. Find your identity in what God says about you, rather than what you’ve accomplished.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV)

Our work ultimately has its origin in God. He made us, gave us strength, talents, and different abilities. If we are to obtain our identity from any place, it should be from the One who designed us and made us valuable because of Jesus’s blood.

3. Focus on working with excellence instead of working harder.

As the saying goes, focus on quality over quantity, and this is the same in the Kingdom. Colossians puts it this way:

“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” – Colossians 3:23 (NKJV)

When we see our work as something we offer up to God, then we will work with excellence out of a correct heart.

4. View your work as service to God and others instead of making a name for yourself.

All work should be service. Productivity should be to serve God and others better. Jesus came to this world to serve others and give His life for them. As His children, we should follow His example.

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” –  Galatians 5:13 (NLT)

5. Learn to rest and take breaks intentionally.

God created the Sabbath for a reason. When there is room for rest and slow rhythms in our lives, we work better when the time comes. Today, Jesus is our rest, and when we receive our work assignment from Him (His yoke), the load is lighter.

“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’” – Matthew 11:28-29 (NLT)

6. Take today as a gift, and give all your accomplishments back to God.

At the end of the day, all we do is because of Him. Whatever praise we get for our work, we should hand it back to God in our heart. David’s prayer should become our own:

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!” – 1 Chronicles 29:14 (NLT)

Slow living is learning to work while abiding in Christ. God made us for joyful work born from a deep-seated knowledge of who He made us to be. May we learn to abide and let go of any yoke that doesn’t come from Him.

Thanks for reading,
Anna

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Photo by Alex Gorbi on Unsplash