58 | Why That December Pressure Isn't From God

As the year comes to a close, many Christian authors feel an unspoken pressure — to finish, to plan, to prove that this year mattered.

But what if that pressure isn’t from God at all?

In this episode of Anointed Scribe, we’re talking about the kind of end-of-year urgency that masquerades as responsibility but quietly fuels striving, anxiety, and burnout. If your mind feels noisy, your to-do list feels heavy, or rest feels like something you have to earn, this conversation is for you.

You’ll hear:

• Why pressure is not God’s voice — even when things matter deeply
• How striving clouds discernment and steals peace
• What Scripture actually says about rest, trust, and timing
• Gentle, practical ways to quiet your mind when everything feels urgent

This isn’t an episode about productivity.

It’s about presence. Pace. And releasing what was never yours to carry.

👉 Free Quiz:

If you’re feeling overwhelmed but not sure what’s underneath it, take the free What’s Keeping You Stuck? quiz to gain clarity and discern what God may be inviting you to release.

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Transcript

As we head toward the end of the year, I've been sensing how much pressure Christian authors are carrying.

Me included.

Pressure to finish, pressure to plan,

pressure to clear the desk.

Pressure to prove that this year counted for something.

And what's interesting is that this pressure doesn't always come from the outside.

Often it's completely self imposed.

We tell ourselves things like, I just need to push through a little longer.

I'll rest once I finish this.

I can't fully switch off until everything's done.

But today I want to share something that's been gently setting me free.

Pressure is not God's voice.

Pressure. God does not rush.

God does not panic.

God does not drive us with urgency or anxiety,

even when things matter deeply.

And if you've been feeling internally noisy,

mentally restless,

or emotionally stretched as this year comes to a close,

this episode is for you.

Because what we are talking about today isn't productivity.

It's presence,

it's pace.

And it's learning how to quiet the mind when the calendar says stop,

but your thoughts refuse to.

This is episode 58.

I'm Urcelia Teixeira, ex real estate agent turned award winning Christian fiction authority.

When I wrote my first novel on a bucket list whim, I had no idea it would spark a spiritual journey that would redefine my calling. But you know what, friend?

Self publishing wasn't easy. I got caught in the hustle, chasing rankings and sales while desperately trying to stay rooted in Christ.

Now, by God's grace, I'm building my author business his way. And now he's called me to help you do the same fame.

Welcome to the Anointed Scribe Podcast where faith meets business for Christian writers. Let's write, publish and grow our author business God's way. Are you ready? Well then, let's get started.

Hey, it's your author friend, Urcelia. And welcome to this week's episode of Anointed Script.

If you haven't already, I'd love for you to subscribe or follow the podcast wherever you are listening.

Especially if you're a Christian writer who wants to build your writing life and your author business in a way that stays rooted in God, not driven by hustle.

Now let's talk about pressure. Because if I'm honest,

this is something I'm navigating in real time too.

Not external pressure, not deadlines screaming at me,

but that internal sense of needing to finish everything before I'm allowed to rest.

And I know I'm not the only one.

For many authors, December doesn't feel restful at all. It feels mentally loud, right?

Even when the body slows down,

the mind races ahead.

Already at January,

already at the desk, already planning, already bracing.

I caught myself doing this just last week. I was sitting with my cat, Gadget,

supposedly having a quiet morning with my coffee. But my brain was three weeks ahead,

making lists, building characters and story arcs, mapping out the entire first quarter.

And I had to stop myself and ask,

what am I actually afraid of?

Because that's what's really going on, isn't it? We call it planning. We call it being responsible.

We call it just being prepared.

But underneath, there's often fear.

Fear that if we stop, we'll lose momentum.

Fear that rest means falling behind.

That's my big one.

Fear that December's pause will somehow derail everything we've built this entire past year.

And here's the truth I'm learning to tell myself, and maybe you need to hear it, too. Today.

That pressure feels responsible. But it isn't spiritual.

Let me say that again, because it's important.

Just because something feels responsible doesn't mean it's from God.

Scripture gives us a very different picture of how God works.

Isaiah 30:15 says,

in repentance and rest is your salvation. In quietness and trust is your strength.

I must have read that verse a hundred times before it actually sank in.

Notice what it doesn't say.

It doesn't say in urgency.

It doesn't say in striving.

It doesn't say in finishing everything on your list.

It doesn't say in staying three steps ahead.

God's strength flows from quietness and trust,

not pressure.

And here's what I'm slowly learning.

Pressure produces striving.

Striving clouds discernment.

And discernment is something we desperately need as writers.

Think about it. When was the last time you heard God clearly? When you were anxious?

When was the last time you received fresh direction, when your mind was racing?

When was the last time you sensed his leading, when you were in full panic mode?

Probably never, right?

But because God doesn't speak through static. He speaks through stillness.

If something truly comes from God,

it can withstand waiting.

Let me say that one more time, because this once been profoundly insightful to me.

If something truly comes from God, it can withstand waiting.

Anything that requires panic to complete probably didn't come from God.

And that includes books,

platforms, plans, and timelines.

God doesn't operate on emergency timelines. He's not scrambling.

He's not anxious about December turning into January.

And yet so many of us, myself included,

have learned to live as though rest must be earned,

as though peace comes after productivity.

As though stopping is only permitted once everything is done.

I grew up in a home where you had to finish your chores before you could play.

In boarding school, we had to finish our homework before we could go into town.

And while there's wisdom in that for a child,

somewhere along the way I internalised it as a spiritual principle.

Rest equals reward for completing tasks.

But that's not kingdom thinking, is it?

That's performance thinking, wearing a spiritual mask.

Jesus didn't say, come to me all who have finished everything and crossed every item off your list.

He said, come to me all who are weary and burdened, and then I will give you rest,

present tense, while you are still weary,

before everything's done.

Here's what I'm noticing. And maybe you are noticing it too right now. The list never actually ends.

There's always one more thing to tweak,

one more email to write, one more idea to capture.

One more task before permission to pause.

Last week I told myself I'd rest once I finished outlining my novel I'm starting in January.

Then it was once I finished doing an audit of my keywords and categories.

Then it was once I finished two more audiobooks.

Then it was once I answered all my emails. The goal posts kept moving and if we're not careful, we carry that same pressure straight into Christmas.

We are physically present,

but mentally elsewhere,

already in January,

already behind,

already bracing.

Our families are talking to us, but we're half listening because our minds are rehearsing book launches and marketing plans.

We're at the Christmas table,

but we're mentally at our desks all the way in January.

And you know what breaks my heart?

We do this to ourselves and call it faithfulness.

We say things like, I'm just being a good steward.

I'm just being diligent. I'm just taking my calling seriously.

But what if faithfulness in this season looks completely different than we think?

So how do we quiet the mind? That's the million dollar question.

Well, the answer might surprise you, friend.

It's not with another system,

not with another productivity hack,

not with another five step process.

But with intention,

with gentleness,

with a kind of grace we'd extend to a friend but rarely give ourselves.

Let me share a few things. I'm practicing right now. Not as someone who has this all figured out,

but as someone who's learning alongside you.

Practice one Close loops intentionally,

not completely.

You do not need to finish everything before you stop. You need to decide what is done. For now,

this is huge, because here's what I've discovered. Undecided tasks are what keep looping in my head.

It's not that actual work that keeps me up at night. It's the work you haven't given yourself permission to release.

So here's what I'm doing this week.

I'm choosing one or two things to complete before the break.

Then I'm clearly naming what will wait until January.

And I'm writing it down, not keeping it in my head,

not trusting myself to remember, actually writing it down.

Because clarity calms the mind. At least for me, it does.

When something is written down with a date beside it, your brain can finally let it go.

You're not forgetting it. You're not being irresponsible.

You're being intentional about timing.

There's a difference between abandoning something and releasing it for a season.

God knows the difference. And deep down,

so do we.

Practice number two,

stop rehearsing January before December is even finished.

This one is big for me right now. Future thinking. Robson.

Present.

Grace.

I cannot tell you how many Decembers I've mentally lived in February.

Planning, preparing, protecting against every possible scenario. But here's the thing.

God gives grace daily,

not in advance.

Deuteronomy 33. 25 says your strength will equal your days.

It doesn't say your weeks, not. Not your months,

your days.

You don't need January strength today,

you only need today's.

You don't need next quarter's wisdom today. You only need today's.

But you do need God's grace today.

So that's what I keep praying over myself.

And when I pray that, I can actually feel my shoulders drop with relief.

Because I'm not carrying February's weight in December, right?

I'm just carrying it today.

And today's weight, that's manageable.

Practice number three,

create a daily holy pause.

Not long,

not complicated,

not another item on the to do list.

Five minutes.

No phone, no agenda.

Just stillness.

I've started doing this in the mornings before I even open my laptop.

Sometimes I sit on my back porch with my Bible.

Sometimes I just sit with my coffee and let my mind settle.

Sometimes I don't even pray words. I just breathe and remember that God is present.

Because stillness isn't wasted time.

It's alignment.

It's often how we let our nervous system catch up to our faith.

You know how sometimes your body is in one place, but your mind is on five other places?

Well, stillness brings them back together.

It's not about achieving anything.

It's not about getting breakthrough or hearing audible words from God.

It's simply about being present to his presence.

And honestly,

some days that's the most productive thing I do all day.

Practice Number four Redefine productivity for this Season Here's a question I'm asking myself this week.

What would faithfulness look like today?

Not yesterday.

Not next month,

today.

And then this one.

What would presence look like today?

Sometimes productivity looks like saying no.

Sometimes productivity looks like deleting half your to do list.

Sometimes productivity looks like playing a board game with your kids instead of sitting at your desk.

And that's not failure. That's faithfulness.

And that brings me to the heart of this season,

because I think there's something deeply theological happening in Christmas that most of us miss.

Jesus did not enter the world in a rush.

He came quietly,

humbly,

in obscurity.

Think about that for a second.

God had been planning the redemption of humanity for millennia.

This was the single most important event in all of history.

And how did he do it?

Not with fanfare. Not with a massive launch.

Not with urgency.

Not with a worldwide press release.

He came to a virgin in a small town.

He was born in a barn.

He was announced to shepherds, not kings.

God chose waiting.

God chose stillness.

God chose a manger,

not a world stage.

The God of the universe looked at the most crucial mission in human history and said,

we are doing this slowly.

We are doing this humbly.

We're doing this in a way that no one will see coming.

And if God operated that way in his most important work,

what does that tell us about how we should operate in ours?

If the incarnation of Christ didn't require urgency,

maybe your platform building doesn't either.

If the redemption of the world could happen in a stable,

maybe your ministry doesn't need to be bigger, louder, or faster to matter.

So if things feel unfinished right now, that doesn't mean something is wrong, friend.

It may simply mean this season is asking for your presence,

not your performance.

I keep thinking about Mary.

She had nine months to prepare for the most significant birth in history.

And what do we see her doing?

Pondering. Treasuring.

Holding things in her heart.

She wasn't striving. She wasn't proving.

She wasn't performing for an audience.

She was simply present to what God was doing in her.

And I wonder what would happen if we gave ourselves permission to do the same,

to be present to this season,

to treasure it, to ponder what God might be doing. In the quiet moments we usually rush past.

Pressure is not God's voice peace is.

And here's how you can tell the difference.

God's voice invites pressure, demands.

God's voice brings clarity.

Pressure brings confusion.

God's voice creates space.

Pressure creates overwhelm.

God's voice produces freedom.

Pressure produces bondage.

Jesus said in John 10:10,

the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

Full life,

abundant life.

Not rushed life,

not striving life,

not barely keeping it together. Life,

full,

abundant,

present,

rooted life.

That's what he offers.

And that's available right now.

Not once you finish your list.

Not once December becomes January right now.

And if you're feeling that pressure, but you're not entirely sure what's underneath it,

I want to remind you to take the free quiz I created to help you find out what's causing the overwhelm and the pressure and even what's blocking you from moving forward in God's abundance.

It's not about fixing you, it's about helping you name what God might be inviting you to release so you can move forward with clarity instead of pressure.

You'll find the link in the show notes.

Friend,

may you be fully present with the people you love.

May you give yourself permission to pause without guilt.

And may you remember that the God who chose a manger over a world stage delights in your presence more than your performance.

Until next week,

I hope you have a beautiful, restful Christmas.

Friend, before I let you go, I want you to use the send me a message link in the show notes and let me know where you need God to show up for you today so I can pray for you.

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But I can read your request and I can pray for you. So I encourage you to use this feature to send me a private message to let me know what you are struggling with right now so we can come together and take this to the Lord in prayer.

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Thank you for listening. And remember, for such a time as this,

you have been called to thrive as God's anointed scribe.