April 15, 2025
Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. -Proverbs 23:4 (ESV)
This isn’t a verse I come back to because I’ve mastered it — but because I haven’t. If anything, it’s a mirror. Every time I read it, I see something in me that still needs to be checked.
There are a lot of weeks where I find myself toiling. Not working with peace. Not moving with trust. Just striving. Grinding. Carrying more. Doing more. And most of the time, if I’m really honest, it’s rooted in fear. Not fear of public failure. But that quiet fear that if I don’t do it, no one will. That if I stop pushing, God might not show up. So I work harder. Press in. Try to stay in control. Fear gets me moving. Pride shows up when it works. It’s a brutal cycle.
My mouth might even say, “Look what God did.” But my heart... and my calendar... and my stress levels... say “Look what I did.”
That’s the tension — I want God to get the glory, but I live like it’s up to me. And yet, when I look back, the moments where God showed up the clearest were the times I did the least. When I had nothing left. When I was out of ideas, out of strength, out of cleverness — and He moved anyway.
I don’t always know what to do with that. But I know the difference in my spirit between striving in my own strength... and walking in His.
Be discerning enough to desist. You and I weren’t made to live exhausted, fearful, and proud. We were made to walk with God — humble, dependent, and steady. So here are some questions to sit with this week:
> Is fear driving any part of what I’m building right now?
> Where has pride crept in and made me crave the credit?
> Have I confused God’s direction with my own ambition?
> What would it look like to truly trust Him—even when nothing’s moving?
You’re not alone in this. Let’s be discerning. Let’s stop when we need to. Check our hearts. And let’s stay about the King’s business.