When God Calls the Busy

A few years ago, I received a phone call from someone I deeply respected. Liz Doyle had started a women’s movement in Michigan that had grown into a national movement and for some reason she wanted to chat with me. I love gleaning from amazing women of God, so we set up the call.

What she said on the call was a shock - she asked me to do something big, that could have statewide impact. Although I was flattered that she thought I could lead something like this, I immediately responded with, “I’m too busy.” She laughed and countered, “Everyone’s too busy. She Leads America is filled with CEOs and professionals and ministry leaders that are all too busy.” Her implication was that God calls the busy to do what He needs done.

Building a faux brick wall for the Brick by Brick interactive prayer and art-creation exhibit at LOVEtheLOU - May, 2026.

From that initial phone call, it took a few years until we finally launched She Leads Missouri. It just never felt like the right time…which, truthfully, meant that it never felt like the easiest and most convenient time for me to launch this movement. However, once I finally committed to the Lord that I was going to do this, the Lord began to draw people into my sphere who could help as well as the financial resources needed to make it all happen.

Yet, on top of all of that, the timing still felt hard for me. Earlier this year, my family and I were navigating a painful health crisis of a beloved family member (described in my last blog). Plus, I was trying to figure out how to survive the hormonal throes of perimenopause while running point on a challenging project at work. To top it all off, my husband and I were taking turns driving our son to college auditions across the U.S. Nothing about this past season felt easy. Even typing this out now makes me sweat. Whew! During those few months, I felt like I was perpetually being crushed.

And yet, my team and I sensed that this was the moment we were supposed to launch She Leads Missouri. 

As I was reading the Book of Haggai this morning, I was reminded again that God’s timing is not always our timing. I know we know that - but to see that truth embedded into the story of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem encouraged me. Perhaps it will encourage you as well.

Here are a few lessons from the Book of Haggai: 

Lesson #1 - Sometimes the Lord’s timing feels inconvenient.  

2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”

3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” Haggai 1:2 - 4

I am learning in my current season that the Lord’s timing does not always suit me; it is not always comfortable or convenient. 

Although I could see the Lord’s handiwork in the people and resources He brought into my sphere to accomplish the assignment, if I had had it my way, I probably would have waited a whole other year to do it. 

In our “It’s all about me” culture, this concept of submitting to the Lord’s timing may prick a little. I encourage us all that conforming to God’s timeline brings blessing and fruitfulness. 

“‘Now give careful thought to this from this day on—consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. 16 When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. 17 I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me,’ declares the Lord. 18 ‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: 19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.

“‘From this day on I will bless you.’” Haggai 2:15 - 19

#2 - God promises His presence in the process.

“I am with you.” 

“For I am with you.”

“And my Spirit remains among you.”

Three times God promises His presence to Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua as they start the rebuilding process. If He is calling us to do something, He promises that He will accompany us on the journey. Think about it - His presence means His protection, guidance, peace, and joy. (In His presence is fullness of joy, in His right hand pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11) So, we won’t have to walk this path alone. As Jesus reiterates in the Gospels - He will never leave us nor forsake us.

#3 - He gives us the strength to accomplish the assignment.

“Be strong.”

“Be strong, all you people of the land.”

“Be strong and work.”

God knows how weak we feel when we face a God-sized assignment. It takes His strength to accomplish anything He is asking us to do. Here’s the key - when God speaks strength to us, He is simultaneously depositing His strength into us. Remember what Jesus said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in your weakness.” 

We find that verse within the context of the Lord’s response to Paul when he was asking the Lord to deliver him from his infamous thorn. However, I believe this truth can also be applied to personal challenges that seem insurmountable and impossible. 

We cannot do the assignment without God, but God can and will do the assignment through us through His power. It’s not about our strength - it’s about acknowledging our weakness and leaning into Him. How do we do this? We spend time with Him in prayer and in the Word. Through this process of cultivating intimacy with God we learn how to listen to His voice and recognize His hand as He guides and directs us.

Remember that God gave Noah the specs for building the ark and  to Moses the blueprint for constructing the Tabernacle. Jesus instructed His disciples on how they should minister when He sent them out two by two. If He calls us to do something, He will also reveal the plan. 

Praying for honorees at the She Leads Missouri inaugural Honor Tea - April, 2026.

#4 - It takes work.

“Be strong and work.”

It took Noah and his sons 75 - 100 years to build the ark.  

It took Solomon and his crew, which numbered among the thousands, 7 years to build the first temple.

It took Nehemiah, skilled workers, and many local families 52 days to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

It took 182 years to build the iconic Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

In our microwave-happy culture where AI can create an essay on the ancient trade routes of the Orient in mere seconds, extended periods of hard work seem untenable, archaic, even obnoxious.

Here’s the thing - work existed in the Garden. Adam and Eve were given their stewardship assignment before the Fall. So, work is not anathema to the call of God. Work is how things get done.

Yes, it’s good to “work smarter and not harder,” but at the same time, you cannot perform Dvorak’s famous Cello Concerto in B Minor unless you have spent years honing your musicianship through thousands of hours of practicing scales, etudes, and solo repertoire. (To master a simple bow hold can take dozens, if not hundreds  of hours in and of itself.) In addition, a student spends thousands of dollars in order to learn from amazing teachers and invest in quality instruments. Mastery does not just happen; mastery takes work.*

Confession  - I am not someone who particularly enjoys working hard, but I have come to understand that some things won’t get done unless I put my hand to the plow and start digging. In fact, I feel the Lord’s pleasure in doing what He has asked me to do. In no way am I promoting a works-based gospel. We don’t work to earn God’s love; His love is freely given to each of us. It is by grace alone that we are saved. What I am saying is that knowing that my obedience pleases my Father gives me tremendous joy. Joy is the fuel we need to go the distance.

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Fruit that remains.

Obedience to the call of God bears eternal fruit, of this I am convinced. Although we may not always see the fullness of the fruit on this side of eternity, the ripples from our "yes" will impact many more lives than we could ever imagine. Now that is something to celebrate!

What is God calling you to do? 

*I would also like to add that in the midst of serving God, it’s important that we also take times to rest. Even God took a day to rest after He spent 6 cosmic days creating, well, everything. It's important for rest to remain a weekly rhythm in our journeys. Plus, I recommend micro seasons of rest along the way. I fully acknowledge that that’s easier said than done, and some seasons are just plain busier than others, but rest is totally necessary to stay plugged into God, maintain connection with those we love, and to avoid burnout.