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When God Is Your Provider, Not Just Your Backup Plan
- Carolon Donnally
- Aug 21
- 6 min read
What Carolon discovered about self-sufficiency, Sabbath, and what it actually looks like to stop striving and start trusting — in work, in finances, and in faith.
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We often think the answer to burnout is better time management. But beneath the calendar struggles, there's usually a deeper question: what are we actually relying on to hold our lives together?
When Dr. Iwana Popa invited me onto the Thriving in Christ podcast, I wasn't expecting to spend most of the conversation talking about money, seminary, and a billboard on the highway. But that's where the conversation went — and I think it went there for a reason.
Because the thing that most fueled my burnout wasn't what I expected. It wasn't an impossible workload or a toxic boss. It was something quieter and more personal: I had made self-sufficiency an idol — and I didn't know it.
The idol I didn't know I had
I understood that God is provider. I could tell you that. I could teach it. But somewhere underneath that knowledge lived a different operating belief: I am the one who brings in the paycheck. I am the one who holds this together. I am the provider.
The Lord began dismantling that belief through one of the most stretching experiences of my life. My husband had been studying Greek on his own, and I told him he should probably go to school for it. He took me seriously — and we ended up leaving our family in Maryland and moving to Chicago for seminary. I thought the journey was for him. A couple of years in, I found myself staring longingly at an application for a master's degree in organizational development. It came with a $100,000 price tag.
We didn't have the money. Didn't know where it would come from. And the Lord said, "If you go, I'll pay for it."
I was looking for someone to knock on my door with a check in hand. That's not how it happened. It was a faith walk — believing God would do what he said, moving forward anyway, and watching him show up little by little until the student loans were completely paid off. By the time I graduated in 2019, within two or three years, the entire thing was gone.
What made that moment a standout wasn't just the financial miracle. It was what God was doing inside me at the same time. He was exposing an idol of self-sufficiency that I had carried for years — and he wanted to tear it down. My burnout was, in large part, the cost of that idol. The exhaustion of trying to be the one who held everything together, all the time, without stopping to depend on anything outside myself.
How we knew it was God
Dr. Popa asked a question I think a lot of people want to ask but don't: how did you actually know it was God leading you, and not just your own desire?
For my husband and me, it's been a process of learning his voice over time. The scripture says my sheep hear my voice — and that's been our experience. We've learned not to move until both of us have peace. Not just excitement, not just logical sense — peace. The kind that passes understanding, that settles in even when the circumstances don't make sense on paper.
The test we've used When God is directing, the anxiety and the wrestling eventually quiet. His peace becomes the umpire of the heart. When we both had that settled sense — not as a momentary feeling that came and went, but as something that stayed — that's when we knew. He also tends to give breadcrumbs along the way. Little confirmations that say: I'm with you. Keep going. |
The practice that changed everything
When Dr. Popa asked about my "secret sauce" for staying renewed, my answer surprised even me a little. Not a morning routine. Not a journaling habit. Sabbath.
My husband and I started this practice a couple of years ago, actually during the pressure of his PhD dissertation. To have a day away from writing — from everything — felt like an act of faith for him. We said: this is what God is calling us to, so we're going to do it. Even when it felt irresponsible.
What happened over time is that it became one of the things our family looks forward to most. Our teenage son told us that Sabbath has been transformational for him — and when your teenager says something is important to him, you pay attention.
What our Sabbath actually looks like
A weekly rhythm of delight, gratitude, and prayer
Preparation: We cook, clean, and prepare ahead of time. Knowing it's coming motivates us to get creative about finishing things early.
Walks without phones: We take long, slow walks around the neighborhood — just to see what we see. Some of our best family conversations have happened side by side on those walks.
A delicious meal together: Food is part of the delight. We plan something scrumptious. It becomes something everyone looks forward to.
Gratitude at the end of the day: Each of us shares what we were grateful for during the week — including struggles. Our son hears that mom and dad don't have it together either.
Prayer for each other: We close by praying for one another around the week ahead. Each person prays for the others. It's become a beautiful, irreplaceable ritual.
The thing Sabbath has taught me is that God is at work even when I am not. That sounds simple. It is not simple to actually believe it in your body. Sabbath rewires your nervous system to understand what rest feels like at the deepest level — so that when you go on vacation, you can actually rest, because your body already knows what rest feels like. You're not spending the first four days trying to decompress.
Sabbath has set my nervous system up to understand how to work from a place of rest during the week — not to get to Sunday and then start all over again.
The verse that's been holding me
Carolon's anchor verse "I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:9–11 (NKJV) |
I've been sitting with that passage for a while now — because I need the reminder. God is with us. That's not a footnote to the promise. That is the prize. The fact that he's with us — that's what we're holding onto. And the don't be afraid that runs through that passage has been a comfort to me in the moments when everything in me wants to strive and carry and control.
What I want you to take from this conversation
Four things worth sitting with ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
✦ Self-sufficiency is a sneaky idol
You can know that God is provider and still be operating as though you are. Burnout is often the cost of trying to hold everything together by yourself — even when you love God and love your work.
→ Leaning on God isn't passive
We moved forward. We applied. We went. We took action — and kept trusting at the same time. It's a divine dance, not a waiting room.
🔒 Peace is how you know
When God is directing, the wrestling eventually settles. Not the absence of challenges — but a settledness that stays even when circumstances don't make sense. That's worth paying attention to.
◎ Sabbath is not a luxury
It is a survival tool, a gift, and an act of faith. And preparation is what makes it possible — not willpower in the moment, but intentional planning ahead so that rest becomes something you actually look forward to.
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Meet the Host
Dr. Iwana Popa
Thriving in Christ: Soul-Centered Renewal
Dr. Iwana Popa is a physician, psychiatrist, educator, spiritual care and executive coach, and co-founder of Team for the Soul Institute. The show is for Christian women professionals and servant leaders navigating the intersection of faith, burnout, leadership, and deep renewal. Episodes integrate science, psychology, Christian faith, and spiritual care.
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If something in this conversation resonated — the part about self-sufficiency, about rest, about the idol of work and achievement — that's the kind of thing we go deeper on in the RESET program and in individual coaching.
The work is not about doing more. It's about learning to notice what's driving the exhaustion — and finding a different way forward.
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Carolon Donnally, MSOD, PCC
Burnout Resistance Coach · Trainer · Strategic Organization Consultant
Carolon helps high-achieving leaders and mission-driven organizations do great work without burning themselves or others out. She is a former Head of Leadership Coaching at the IRS, holds an MSOD from Pepperdine University, and is an ICF PCC credentialed coach. Her work is grounded in 20+ years of real-world experience — and her own experience on the other side of burnout.
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