“When God Slows You Down on Purpose”

If I’m being honest… I don’t like slowing down.

I like plans. 

I like progress. 

I like checking things off my list like I’m starring in my own productivity commercial.

I am the girl who will:

• make the schedule

• color-code the schedule

• and then get frustrated when life doesn’t follow… the schedule 😅

Control? 

Oh, I know her well.

But lately?

God has been slowing me down.

Not gently either. More like…

✨ “You’re doing too much...sit down.” ✨

And I wish I could say I handled it with immediate grace and spiritual maturity.

But no.

At first, I resisted it.

Because slowing down feels like:

• falling behind

• missing opportunities

• not doing enough

And if you’re a mom, a student, a woman trying to hold it all together?

Slowing down can feel like failure.

But what if it’s not?

What if slowing down is actually… intentional?

There’s this verse that’s been sitting heavy on my heart:

“Be still, and know that I am God.” - Psalms 46:10

Not “hustle harder.” 

Not “figure it all out.” 

Not “prove yourself.”

Just… 

be still.

And here’s the part I didn’t want to admit:

I don’t struggle with busyness…

I struggle with letting go.

Letting go of:

• control

• timelines

• expectations

• the need to have everything make sense

Because if I’m doing something, I feel like I’m in control.

But when I’m still?

I have to trust.

And trust is harder than hustle.

Whew.

But God has been showing me something in this season:

Sometimes He slows you down… 

because the pace you were going was never sustainable.

Sometimes He pauses you… 

because you were about to pour from empty.

Sometimes He redirects you… 

because where you were headed wasn’t where you were called.

And let me tell you what slowing down has looked like for me lately:

It’s looked like:

• unfinished to-do lists

• saying “not right now” instead of “yes”

• choosing rest over pressure

• sitting in moments I used to rush through

And yes… still reheating the same cup of coffee. ☕😂

(Some things are just part of the calling at this point.)

But in that slowing down?

I’ve heard God more clearly.

Not louder.

Just clearer.

Because the noise finally quieted enough for me to listen.

Maybe you’re in that place right now too.

Where things aren’t moving the way you expected.

Where doors feel slow to open.

Where you’re doing less… but feeling more.

Let me gently remind you:

You are not stuck.

You are being slowed down on purpose.

And there’s a difference.

Because slowing down isn’t God holding you back…

It’s Him holding you together.

So, this week?

I’m choosing surrender.

Not perfectly. Not all at once.

But intentionally.

I’m choosing to release:

• the pressure

• the timeline

• the need to control the outcome

And I’m choosing to trust that God is still working…

Even when I’m not rushing.

If this is your season too…

You don’t have to force it. 

You don’t have to figure it all out. 

You don’t have to keep up.

You just have to trust. 

✨ Because the same God who called you forward… 

also knows when to slow you down. ✨

With faith, surrender, and a slightly less rushed cup of coffee, 

Raquel 💜