When the Work Is Never Done
“A woman’s work is never done.” Who knows how true that can feel? Careers to build, businesses to run, households to hold up, health to maintain, churches to serve, friends to keep up with. The list can feel endless.
You don’t need to look back very far to see how much women’s roles in society have changed in a relatively short space of time. When I think of my grandmother’s era, society largely said, “be one thing” - and that thing was homemaker: get married, have your babies, run your household, support your husband’s career. This of course was incredibly limiting.
Fast-forward to today, and women have far more choice in how they spend their lives. But instead of society saying “be one thing,” it now says “be everything.” And not just everything - do much of it simultaneously, and do it well, because there will always be someone on Instagram doing it better than you and making it look effortless.
It’s no wonder the work never feels done.
It’s no wonder burnout rates are higher in women than in men.
“It’s no wonder burnout rates are higher in women than in men.”
The cultural currents we swim in as women are strong: the pull toward busyness, the pull toward doing more, the pull to live with little or no margin. But as Christian women, we believe in a God who can be our anchor - one who stops us from being swept away by these currents. And fortunately the Bible has a lot to say about busyness.
Let’s look to the story in Luke 10:38–42, where Jesus visits the home of Mary and Martha. Martha does exactly what I would have done - she gets straight to the work of being a hostess, preparing food and ensuring her guests are comfortable and honoured. Mary, by contrast, takes the posture of a disciple: she sits at the feet of Jesus (a space usually reserved for men) and listens.
Martha is understandably upset at having been left to do all the work and brings her complaint to Jesus. What follows is not a rebuke of her service, but a gentle naming of her inner state. Jesus sees beneath her busyness to her anxiety, her pressure, her overwhelm - and He speaks directly to it. In just a few words, He offers an encouragement that feels as necessary today as it did in that home in Bethany.
“Jesus sees beneath her busyness to her anxiety, her pressure, her overwhelm - and He speaks directly to it.”
This is what makes Jesus’ response so extraordinary. He does not praise productivity or reinforce expectations. He does not ask Martha to try harder or do more. Instead, He invites her out of worry and into presence. In a world that has always asked women to carry more, manage more, and prove more, Jesus gently says: only one thing is needed.
‘“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”’ - Luke 10:41–42
Making time to sit at the feet of Jesus inevitably means other tasks are paused. Dinner might be slightly later than planned. The inbox is still full. The house might not be perfect. Things on the never-ending to-do list are left unchecked. But perhaps this is part of the invitation.
An invitation to trust that when we’re not working, God still is. Trust that we’re not made to carry all these things alone. Trust that our worth is not measured by how much we do or produce. Trust that sometimes only one thing is needed – presence over productivity.
And perhaps it’s an invitation to get comfortable with the unfinished. To loosen our grip on the urgency that tells us everything must be done now. Sometimes tasks truly are unavoidable. But often, they are simply loud.
“Sometimes tasks truly are unavoidable. But often, they are simply loud.”
Making space for stillness with Jesus in our already crowded schedules can feel like a luxury. Yet it may be these very moments - of worship, presence, and listening - that sustain us as women today. They become the anchor that holds us steady amid the pressure
to do more. And sometimes, even when the list is long, they are the only thing that is truly needed.
If it feels helpful, you may wish to pause here, perhaps with a pen and paper, and allow yourself to reflect slowly.
What would it mean, practically, to choose presence over productivity this week?
Which “loud” tasks could wait - even briefly - so that you might make space for stillness?
If Jesus were to gently name your inner state, as He did with Martha, what might He say?
Where in your life right now do you feel the pressure to do more, even when your soul is asking for rest?
When you imagine sitting at the feet of Jesus, what pulls at your attention most quickly?