In the Stillness Podcast

Hustle culture says exhaustion is success. What if God never designed you to live that way? In today’s quiet time, I got stuck on one verse, Ecclesiastes 10:15 . This verse points us to something so big: God designed work as a gift in the Garden, the fall made it heavy and toilsome, and Jesus came to bring us back to His original intent. We underline how it all points to Jesus, the Way, and how th...

Wisdom alone can’t fix an unjust world...but a sharpened & surrendered life can change more than you'd think. Solomon underlines the unfair, upside-down things we see in this world, then gives us a picture of a dull ax. In this episode, we talk about the need to seek God first, why training really does matter, and how we do our part while relying on God for strength and power. We end with...

In Ecclesiastes 10:1-4, Solomon packs a lot of wisdom into just four verses. We slow down and take them one at a time: how a little sin can contaminate everything (and how the Gospel spreads even further), how the heart guides our thoughts, how daily routine reveals true character, and the surprising power of a calm response. Together they show us that our actions speak louder than words, and that...

The world celebrates the biggest, loudest, and most impressive; God honors the wise and humble. Today we're in Ecclesiastes 9:13-18, a short story about a poor, forgotten man whose wisdom saved a city. Along the way we look at why wisdom so often goes unheard, why it doesn't need volume to be powerful, and what it looks like to let go of the desire to be known, so that God's name gets...

Life is short and death is certain, so don't postpone joy or purpose for a "better" season. In Ecclesiastes 9:1-12, Solomon looks honestly at the reality that all will die. In this episode, we talk about the unique living hope that not everyone has, why gratitude & purpose matter today, and why delaying joy is a trap. We also look at how hustle culture, comparison, and the world&...

God gives us life one day at a time. Today's food, today's work, today's joy...not tomorrow's. In Ecclesiastes 8:14-17, Solomon faces questions he simply can't answer. Instead of an explanation, he lands on something surprisingly simple: take today's portion and enjoy it. In this episode, we talk about why life is a pilgrimage and not a sprint, how reverence frees us to rest when the answers don't...

In this episode, we sit with two verses from Ecclesiastes 7 that go together more than you'd expect: "the end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride," and "wisdom preserves those who have it." We talk about why wisdom can't be bought, but the patience it takes to actually complete something can be grown, because it's a fruit of t...

In this episode, we look at why the enemy specifically targets your faith, hope, love, and peace...and why Jesus' promise of abundant life is available today, not someday down the road! We talk through what it looks like to actually enjoy what God has already given you right now instead of endlessly chasing what's missing, and we sit with a sobering proverb about greed that names exactly w...

In this episode, we look at a picture of loneliness Solomon paints early in Ecclesiastes 4: a man who works endlessly with no one to share his success with. We talk about why the question, "for whom am I working?" matters so much, and why life was actually designed for companionship. We look into how that plays out practically, in relationship with God first, and then with others because...

There's a time for everything, and today we sit inside the verses that say it outright. This episode walks through Ecclesiastes 3:1-14, and asks what it actually looks like to trust God's timing instead of comparing your season to someone else's or even rushing past the one you're currently in. We also discuss what it means to see your work (whatever format it is in right now) as a...

In this episode, we watch Solomon run two experiments with his own life: first pleasure, then wisdom, and we sit with what he found on the other side of both. We talk about why he chased pleasure so hard, and why even the worthy pursuits in his life, the ones that weren't wrong on their own, still left him empty once he made them the destination instead of the journey. Then we look at his turn...

In this episode, we open up Ecclesiastes 1 and consider why a book that starts with "everything is meaningless" ends up being one of the most encouraging in the Bible. We talk about who's actually speaking in this book and why his humble honesty matters. We walk through the relentless cycle Solomon describes in nature, and what it means to build your life on something eternal instead...

Psalm 16 might be one of the most quietly powerful chapters in the whole book: a psalm of refuge, security, and resurrection hope. In this episode, we sit with David's confident declaration, "apart from you I have no good thing." We talk about what it really means to have "everything" vs. having nothing but Jesus...and why one of those actually satisfies and the other doesn...

David was hunted, more than once, by more than one person who wanted him gone. And the advice he kept getting was: "run." In this episode, we sit with Psalm 11 and watch David choose something braver than flight. We talk about why being chosen by God was never a promise of an easy road, and why real faith looks different from fearful retreat. We also dig into what it means that God is st...

After several episodes of lament, Psalm 8 flips the tone completely. David looks up at the stars and lands somewhere else: not smaller, but more significant. In this episode, we talk about the surprising place this psalm shows up in the New Testament (quoted directly and applied to Jesus) and what it means that you were made on purpose and so very intentionally. We talk about holding two truths at...

Psalm 6 shows David at a very weak point, weeping through the night. In this episode, we talk about what it looks like to bring God the real weight of what you're carrying instead of the tidy version, and why nothing you're feeling is too big or too small to say to Him out loud. We talk about the surprising link between weakness and humility, the difference between venting and actually praying, an...

In this episode, we finish Psalm 5 by looking at what it means to ask God for a straight path....not an easy life, but a clear focus that holds steady through changing seasons. Then we get honest about the enemy the Bible lays out plainly: a tempter who lures us through deception and an accuser who shames us after giving in - followed by the very language Jesus later uses to describe him. We talk...

David prayed before the sun was up...so what does it actually look like to give God first place in a day, before anything else gets to it? Psalm 5 opens with David laying out his lament to God first thing in the morning, and it's the kind of honest, unpolished prayer most of us save for emergencies. In this episode, we sit in the first half of the psalm and ask what it actually means to be &qu...

No matter what happens, you can live unafraid. Here's why that's not wishful thinking but a reality you can stand in. This is pt. 2 of our look at Psalm 4, picking up right where David moves from asking God for breakthrough to actually resting in peace. We talk about what it means to be still before God, why David prays for light instead of getting frustrated at people who see things diffe...

He hears you when you call. And the breakthrough you're waiting on? It's closer than you think. David wrote Psalm 4 in the middle of being chased down by his own son, and instead of falling apart, he brings his needs and emotions directly to God. In this episode, we talk about what it looks like to stop managing life on our own timeline and actually ask God for breakthrough...and then wait for it...

David was surrounded by ten thousand enemies and his own son wanted him dead...so how did he end this psalm lying down and sleeping in peace? In this episode, we read Psalm 3 and talk about the real battle behind our fears. We address who's actually holding your world together (hint: it's not you!), and why you get to approach God's presence with boldness and authority. Whatever you&#3...

Someone is always in charge. The question is who. In this episode, we read Psalm 2, and discuss what it actually means to serve something or someone, why earthly power should never make you afraid, and how "freedom" apart from God isn't freedom at all...it's just a different kind of chains. We also sit with the Father's declaration over His Son, the same words the New Testament points straight bac...

What are you actually rooted in? We're kicking off a new series through the Psalms! Before we even get to the passage, we talk about what makes the Psalms so different...how honesty with God is what actually grows an intimate relationship with Him. From there we dig into what it means to truly delight in God's Word, why who you surround yourself with matters more than you think, and how me...

In this final episode (Haggai 2:20-23), we look at what it means that Haggai's job might have seemed small in the moment, yet became a book still being read thousands of years later. We talk about listening for God's voice above every other voice, and whether we're willing to be used in hidden, unnoticed ways. We talk about every earthly authority, even the ones we don't realize we...

In this episode, we go through Haggai 2:15-19. We see God ask His people to look back and remember their lack...not to shame them, but to show them just how merciful He's been. And then He does something remarkable: He doesn't wait for their temple work to be finished, or for them to prove themselves, before He blesses them. The blessing starts the day the foundation is laid. Just the begi...