Christian Sister, Your Hustle Is Stealing Your Peace

Christian sister, maybe you’ve recognized that your hustle is stealing your peace, but I’ll bet you don’t realize that patriarchy wants it this way.

Our entire system pushes women to be more and do more and juggle more with the promise that if we prove we are “good enough” we can crash through every glass ceiling. But that’s not the truth. The truth is all of that running around just wears us out and keeps us from living the life God created us to live.

“And the seeds that fell in the weeds-well, these are the ones who hear, but then the seed is crowded out and nothing comes out of it as they go about their lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun.”
Luke 8:14 The Message

If you’ve been in Christian circles for long, you’ve probably heard this parable before. The farmer spreads seeds that land in different locations. Some seeds grow well but some are snatched away or overwhelmed by their environment.

In this case, the seed-or Word of God-falls on fertile ground but is choked out by the weeds that have already taken root.

The soil is fertile but weeds use up the nutrients the seeds need to thrive. As a result, there is no room for growth.

It’s a powerful metaphor. There are so many things in our daily lives that take root and seem to be higher priorities than the Word of God (AKA Jesus). We fall into the trap of believing that we can work our way out of the weed patch by doing more, being more, and giving more.

This is no joke for busy Christian women with jobs and families and communities we serve.

Contributing to the pressure is the fact that our culture is OBSESSED with the “hustle, hustle, hustle” mentality. There’s a toxic belief that pushing harder is always the answer and if we don’t reach a certain level of success, we just need to do more. Which is only half a step away from us not being enough.

Hustle culture isn’t something we made up.

Rather, it was created by intentional design as a response to the norms of a toxic, patriarchal society that tells us all we need to do to be successful is to work hard. As a result, we feel like we must push and move and try to do all the things better. But this cycle harms us because we don’t allow ourselves to rest-ever. We’re already carrying the extra burden of emotional labor required for the “traditional women’s work” of caring for our homes, families, and communities, which is constantly reinforced by toxic religion.

It’s time to call BS, because our value in this world has NOTHING to do with our hustle.

Hustle culture and it’s closely-related pal, bootstrap mentality, are rooted in the false assumption that we are all born on equal footing. All we need to do is work hard, do the right things, follow the rules, and be disciplined and VOILA, SUCCESS ACHIEVED. But that’s not how it works.

The truth is, we’re not all born with the same resources. The playing field has never been level, particularly for women and especially for black and brown people. Instead, we are born into systemic injustices that perpetuate harm on minorities.

The idea that if we just work harder is clearly flawed from the outset. And although we often hustle so hard because we’re scared, the truth is: we try to outrun our insecurities and disprove the voices of doubt.

Can we stop for 60 seconds and admit that it’s okay to be scared?

It’s okay to be scared to fail.
If you are scared of possible ridicule, that’s okay too.
It’s okay to be scared you will let people down.
If you are scared you are not enough, that’s okay.

Deconstructing faith provides an opportunity to acknowledge that fearing something doesn’t make it true.

TBH, the constant hustle as we try to outrun our fears turns our life into an overgrown pit of weeds that threatens to choke out the good.

Hustling–or for instance–being, doing, giving more doesn’t make our fears go away.
The voice of insecurity isn’t rooted out by it.
It won’t point out the abundance in our lives.
Hustling won’t tell the enemy his taunts of “not enough” aren’t welcome.

Only sitting at the feet of Jesus can do this.

Don’t believe that the enemy is using “hustle” to draw us away from God?

Think of how satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Although we often see those days as tests of His faith in God, satan was also challenging Jesus to prove He was who He said He was.

Do you see the hustle message in the enemy’s taunts?

Make bread and meet your own needs. (Prove who you are and what you can do.)
Jump and prove God will care for you. (Prove you are worthy of God’s love by taking big risks.)
Give yourself over to my will and I’ll give you everything you want. (Pursue your dream at all costs and you’ll find fulfillment.)

Not only is the “hustle all the time” message not from God, it’s pushing you away from Him.

Like Jesus, you can choose whether or not you want to keep playing the enemy’s game. This means we have to stop looking for approval or signs that we’re doing enough within unjust systems and toxic religion. No matter how hard you try, it will never be enough within those parameters.

If you feel horribly insecure today, don’t do more of what you usually do to try to earn your way out of those feelings.

Sit with your fears.
Hit them head on with what God says about you.
Don’t do more.
Do less.
Make space for the Word of God to take root.
Challenge the enemy’s taunts by sitting squarely in God’s presence and letting Him root out those weeds.

Like Jesus, you can choose whether or not you want to keep playing the enemy’s game.

If you feel horribly insecure today, don’t do more of what you usually do to try to earn your way out of those feelings.

Sit with your fears.
Hit them head on with what God says about you.
Don’t do more.
Do less.
Make space for the Word of God to take root.
Challenge the enemy’s taunts by sitting squarely in God’s presence and letting Him root out those weeds.

 

Last, but not least, get into a community that values you as you are without pressuring you to be, do, and give more. 
(You can join my free Facebook community here.)

XOXO,