This week, Jess Connolly introduces one of the most countercultural concepts we’ll face all summer: permission to pause.
In a world that prizes constant productivity and glorifies packed schedules, taking a pause can feel almost wrong—like you’re falling behind or failing. For much of my life, I believed that rest was reserved for people who didn’t have as much to carry. I believed (because I was told) that if I just worked hard enough, I could accomplish anything.
And that’s the stronghold that held me captive for a long time: the belief that I should be limitless.
It turns out—even if I could do anything, I can’t do everything. I am simply not limitless. And truthfully? I didn’t like that. At least, I didn’t used to.
Accepting my own human capacity and limitations has been one of the most transformative shifts in my life. I had to stop resenting my boundaries and start recognizing them as gifts. Boundaries that lead to margin. Margin that leads to peace. Peace that makes space for joy.
“The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” – Psalm 16:6 (CSB)
There is so much freedom in learning to live inside the lines God has lovingly drawn. He’s not holding us back—He’s holding us together. He never called us to do everything. He called us to do what He’s given us, with faithfulness and dependence.
And maybe that’s what this week’s reading is really about: dependence. Slowing down not as an act of laziness, but as an act of trust. A declaration that I don’t have to earn God’s love by accomplishing more—I can receive it because He already gives it freely.
Pausing isn’t weakness. It’s wisdom. It’s a reminder that we’re human, and God is God. And we can breathe in the grace that comes with knowing the difference.
Reflect:
Where do you feel like your limitations are getting in the way?
What boundary has God given you that you’re learning to see as a blessing?
How might He be inviting you to pause and depend on Him this week?
You were made for more than running on empty.
You were made to live with margin, rest, and grace inside the beautiful boundaries of His love.