How to Experience Peace While You Work

by Shana Schutte
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Some of you may think true peace is impossible while you work. Shana Schutte offers insight on how to experience internal rest at all times.
There are some people who balance the demands of work or of their calling with extraordinary grace. They calmly endure crises with joy; they patiently wait for God to act when things go awry, and they confidently navigate numerous daily pressures.

Then there are those of us who panic and burn ourselves out while trying to control the future, striving while we work, and worrying ourselves into fitful nights without sleep.

I have to admit, there have been many seasons while I have worked that I have experienced peace, but there have been other times when work demands and seemingly impossible tasks have threatened to steal all joy.

So over the last year I have been asking myself, “How do I work without striving, so I can still experience internal rest and peace while I work? How do I push forward through the day and face its demands without becoming a victim of panic or worry?”

Some of you may think true peace is impossible while you work. Instead, you believe the only way to experience internal rest is to experience external rest—to retire to the Caribbean, buy a slice of heaven on the beach, and stay there until God takes you home.

In his study on Hebrews, John MacArthur writes:

“Rest does not mean free from all nuisances and hassles; it means freedom from being so easily bothered by them. Rest means to be inwardly quiet, composed, peaceful. To enter God’s rest means to be at peace with God (Romans 5:1) to possess the perfect peace He gives (Isaiah 26:3). . . Rest involves remaining confident, keeping trust. In other words, to rest in something or someone means to maintain our confidence in it or him.”

Internal rest is found in belief and trust in God (Hebrews 3:18-19) even while we work. Belief that God’s promises are true, that He is who He says He is, and trust that we are enveloped in His power and lavish love to accomplish all that concerns us. Remember, the one who hears God’s promises but does not believe them is the one who does not experience internal rest. People who do not believe and trust cannot rest while they work even if they want to do so. They are always driven out of their unbelief to striving, worry, panic, or restlessness.

Do you want to experience internal rest and peace while you work? Choose to trust God today and tell Him that you know He has all things that concern your life (and work) under His control. Let Him carry your burdens.