Is God Trying to Get Your Attention?

When's the last time you tried harder at something that just was not working anymore?

If you're anything like me, when something isn't working, your natural response is to try harder. Come up with a new strategy. Fix the problem. That's what we do. That's our job as achievers. We go around, above, or through any obstacle in our way.

That ability has probably served you really well in life. It served me well too, for most of my life. This started early. My kindergarten teacher told my parents I was going to have to work harder, that school was going to be a challenge for me. So from five years old, that got drilled into me. You're going to have to work harder. And honestly, that strategy worked, all the way up through my young adult years. I built a successful business young. I learned how to set big goals and work the plan and make things happen.

So when I eventually hit a season where things stopped working the way they always had, guess what I did? I worked harder. I strategized more. I kept looking for new answers because that's what had always worked, until it didn't.

Here's something I believe every ambitious woman eventually has to learn. There are some things you cannot achieve your way through. There are seasons when the answer isn't more effort. Sometimes God is simply trying to get your attention.

Maybe you're not doing anything wrong. Maybe you've just entered a season where God wants to do something new.

Sign one that your season needs a shift is this. What worked before isn't working anymore.

One of the hardest things for successful women to release is something that used to work, because when something has produced fruit before, our instinct is to assume we just need to do more of it. We don't question the strategy. We question ourselves instead. Maybe I need to be more disciplined. Maybe I'm just not doing enough.

But what if that was never the problem? A strategy can be right for one season and wrong for the next. God works in seasons, and one of the biggest mistakes we make is trying to recreate yesterday's fruit with yesterday's instructions.

I lived this. When I lived in Palm Beach, I used to run these weekly events on Monday nights. There'd be 30 to 45 women there, and it was electric. I worked hard, but I came home exhausted from success. Then I moved to North Florida, and after things settled, I figured I'd just rebuild the same way. The biggest night we ever had here was maybe 15 people. I kept trying for over a year longer than I should have, frustrated, missing time with my family, wondering why I wasn't seeing fruit. I couldn't see that I was moving too fast to pivot, too busy to notice God waving the white flag.

Here's the question I want to leave you with for this one. Where am I trying harder at something that may actually need to change? Or is there something God is done with, but I keep doing it because I've always done it?

Sign two is this. The noise has become louder than God's voice.

This one is dangerous because your life can look incredibly productive while you're spiritually distracted. We live surrounded by constant input, podcasts, social media, everyone's needs pulling at us, our calendars packed. And even good things become noise when they keep us from hearing God.

I remember reaching a point where I desperately wanted clarity from God. I was praying, seeking, doing my daily quiet time, going to conferences. But I had to admit something. I kept asking God for clarity while continuing to live at a pace that gave me almost no room to actually hear Him.

So I did something uncomfortable. I took my first real sabbatical. My husband took our three kids camping for the weekend, and I stayed home to pray and fast. I'll tell you a small thing that still gets me. We were mid construction on the house at the time, and workers were supposed to be there all Saturday. The main guy showed up at 6:30 in the morning, and thirty minutes later, he left, and nobody else came the rest of the weekend. That's just how God is. When you give Him the space, He shows up.

That weekend, God dropped Luke chapter nine into my spirit, and He spoke very specifically. He told me to bless three single moms with a thousand dollars each. So we planned an event to raise the money. We asked the moms what they needed most, and we covered it, therapy, a home gym, gymnastics lessons for their kids, whatever was left we turned into Walmart gift cards so they could buy Christmas presents too. I still get choked up thinking about that day at the park.

Remember, the biggest event I'd ever pulled off trying hard on my own was 15 people. This one, we had over 60 women show up, people telling me they couldn't even find parking, and we raised within 50 cents of the goal God gave me.

We push and we push, but when we stop long enough to actually hear God and answer what He's asking, He shows up in ways we can't manufacture on our own.

Isaiah 26:3 says God keeps in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in Him. Even Jesus repeatedly withdrew from the crowds to spend time alone with the Father, and there were still people who needed Him, still work waiting when He came back. If Jesus stepped away from people who needed Him, why have we convinced ourselves everything will fall apart if we do the same?

Maybe stepping away isn't falling behind. Maybe it's exactly how God prepares us to move forward.

So here's your second question. What has been getting more of my attention than God's voice lately? And how will I create space to hear Him again?

I'll be honest, it's hard to admit the answers to these. But that honesty is what makes room for transformation. Sit with both of these this week. Don't rush past them.