Devotions for a Busy Business Person, no. 313 – S()R – A Sacred Space

The demands never stop.

A client sends an urgent email. A project runs behind schedule. A staff member needs guidance. A new opportunity appears on the horizon.

“Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.” — Ecclesiastes 4:6

In my workaholism, stimulus and response often collapsed into one motion. A request came in, and I said yes immediately, especially to clients, without thinking through the consequences. Anxiety rose, and I worked harder. Shame appeared, and I tried to prove myself.

For many business people, the instinct is immediate action. We pride ourselves on being decisive, responsive, and productive. Yet there is a danger hidden in that strength. We can become so accustomed to reacting that we no longer choose our responses; our responses choose us.

In Strong Ground, Brené Brown writes about the space between stimulus and response, which she summarizes as S()R. She describes the gift of “prying open that space” so that we can respond intentionally rather than react automatically. In that space, she suggests, lie growth, freedom, and the opportunity to choose a different way forward. 

Jesus modelled the way long before the advent of modern psychology. As His ministry grew, so did the demands on His time and attention.

“Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” – Luke 5:15–16

Jesus did not withdraw because there was nothing to do. The crowds were growing. The needs were urgent. 

Yet Jesus deliberately created sacred space between the demands upon Him and His response to them. He withdrew. He prayed. He listened. Then He acted.

It was the place where Jesus aligned Himself with the Father’s will. It was the place where discernment happened.

The same is true for us. This sacred space allows you and me to ask:

• Is this mine to do?
• Is this the right time?
• Am I acting from fear or from peace?
• Am I trying to control outcomes that belong to God?
• What would “enough” look like here?
• Without that pause, work can become compulsive. For some of us, however, the opposite danger is equally real.

After exhausting ourselves through compulsive action, we may swing toward avoidance. But the goal is neither frantic activity nor fearful avoidance.

Jesus withdrew to pray, but He always returned to the work His Father had given Him to do. The pause was never an escape from responsibility. It was preparation for faithful action.

When we learn to enter the sacred space of prayer and discernment first, our actions can flow from wisdom rather than compulsion, and from courage rather than fear. Then we act with confidence.

Prayer

Lord, teach me to follow Your example. When demands press in on every side, help me create space to listen for Your voice. Keep me from both compulsive striving and fearful avoidance. Give me wisdom to know what is mine to do, courage to do it faithfully, and peace to leave the rest in Your hands. 

Amen