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The Grind Isn’t Always Growth

Grit matters. There are seasons that genuinely require it — showing up when you don’t feel like it, pushing through the middle when quitting would be easier. That kind of effort is real, and it’s often necessary.

But somewhere along the way, a lot of us confused trying harder with trusting God. We started believing that if we just gripped tighter, hustled longer, and controlled more, we’d finally arrive at peace. As if peace were a finish line you sprint toward instead of a posture you settle into.

Here’s the truth: peace was never on the other side of the grind. It’s available right now, in the middle of it — if you’re willing to loosen your grip long enough to receive it.

What Peace Actually Looks Like

Let’s be clear about what peace is not. Peace is not the absence of activity. It’s not a life where nothing is going wrong, no one needs anything from you, and every circumstance has resolved itself neatly.

Peace is knowing you’re doing what you can control, and then releasing the rest into God’s hands as your next step. Peace is burying the worry instead of feeding it. Peace is pressing forward — not with force, but with ease, because you know God’s got you.

That distinction changes everything. Peace isn’t passive. It’s a decision, made again and again, to stop carrying what was never yours to carry alone.

The K.I.S.S. ~ Live from a place of P.E.A.C.E.!

Think about what would happen if you let up a little on the gas? Why not determine for a moment or two, stretching into a season, where you put down the “try harder” fight and live a life from a place of peace.

So what does that look like in practice? Let’s break it down.

P.E.A.C.E. — A Different Way to Move Forward

P — PRESENT It, Don’t Carry It

Whatever is weighing on you right now — the relationship, the finances, the diagnosis, the decision you keep circling — present it. Say it out loud. Bring it to God instead of hauling it around silently, hoping sheer willpower will make it lighter. You weren’t built to carry it alone, and pretending otherwise is exhausting you for nothing.

E — ENTRUST What You Can’t Control

There’s a difference between giving up and letting go. Entrusting isn’t quitting — it’s recognizing the outcome was never in your hands to begin with. You can plan, prepare, and show up faithfully, and still not control how it unfolds. Entrusting means you release the ending and trust the One who already knows it.

A — ACT Where You Have Influence

Peace isn’t an excuse to do nothing. There is always a next right step — the phone call, the boundary, the conversation, the small obedience in front of you today. Act there. Fully. Then stop trying to act everywhere else too.

C — CEASE the Striving

Somewhere it says, “Be still, and know.” Not “strive harder, and know.” Ceasing the striving means you stop white-knuckling your way through every outcome. It means you trade the grip for open hands, even when it feels counterintuitive, even when everything in you wants to push one more inch.

E — EASE Into Who You’re Becoming

This is the shift. You stop performing your way toward a version of yourself who has it all figured out, and you start easing into who God is already shaping you to be. Not with force. With trust. One step, becoming, at a time.

Grit Has Its Place — But It Isn’t the Whole Answer

None of this means effort doesn’t matter. There are moments to dig in, to push through, to keep going when everything says stop. Grit has real value.

But when grit becomes the only language you speak — when every problem gets met with “try harder” instead of “trust further” — you burn out chasing a peace that was never going to come from more effort. You make room for real peace the moment you stop trying to force your way into it.

The peace that transcends understanding (Philippians 4:7) doesn’t show up because you finally worked hard enough to earn it. It shows up when you stop trying to earn it at all.

Who You’re Becoming, Not Where You’ve Been

Let this season be about that. Not about proving yourself through where you’ve already been, or how hard you’ve already fought — but about who you’re being polished into becoming. That polishing rarely happens in the grind. It happens in the surrender.

“One step at a time leads to miles of greatness.” ~ Kristianne Wargo

 Sometimes that step isn’t a harder push forward. Sometimes it’s simply letting go.

“Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!“