Freed from the Pressure to Be Everything
By Cathie Ostapchuk
I was looking through my weekly calendar last night and saw very little white space. I started to panic. Every box seemed filled—meetings, commitments, family responsibilities, ministry deadlines. The more I stared at it, the more I felt the pressure rising: How am I possibly going to keep up? Am I enough for all of this?
That’s when I whispered a prayer I’ve been holding onto lately: “Thank you God, for freeing me from the need to be everything.”
Maybe you feel the same pressure as fall kicks off—a new season with new demands. The calendar fills quickly, and even before we’re fully into it, exhaustion can creep in. We live with the expectation (often self-imposed) that we must be everything—competent, available, wise, productive, and spiritually strong in every situation.
But here’s the truth: God never asked us to carry that burden.
Jesus reminds us in Matthew 11:28–30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest… For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” His invitation is not to be everything, but to bring everything to Him. He alone is enough, and because He is, we don’t have to be.
When I get caught in the swirl of striving, I try to pause and shift my prayer: “Lord, I don’t have to be everything. I just have to be faithful with what You’ve given me today.”
That kind of surrender changes everything. It helps me look at my calendar and ask: What really belongs here? What can I release? It helps me choose presence over perfection and faithfulness over frantic effort.
This is also why I believe so deeply in The Studio – Where Women Leaders Are Formed. It’s not another task to cram into your schedule. Think of it as a sacred gift—space carved out to be formed from the inside out. A place where you can rest, grow, and dream with God, surrounded by women on the same journey. Far from adding more pressure, The Studio frees you to breathe, to remember who you are, and to step into leadership with fresh clarity and courage.
As this new season unfolds, may you lean into that freedom. You are not defined by your productivity or your ability to do it all. You are defined by Christ. And He has already declared: You are enough.
So whisper it again, as often as you need: “Thank you God, for freeing me from the need to be everything.”