When Someone Else Is Doing What You Feel Called to Do

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us.

Hebrews 12:1

A few weeks ago, I was listening to another author share about their journey, and for a moment I felt both encouraged and shaken.

I was encouraged because we were writing on similar topics. Clearly this was something people were wrestling with if more than one of us felt led to write about it. But I also felt a strange angst for the same reason.

All at once, I felt urgency rise in me. I needed to rush. Speed up. Finish my book. Get my words out so they wouldn’t be deemed unnecessary.

Almost immediately, I heard the Voice of correction speak truth to my spirit: This author is not your competition.

The truth is, this is something I know down deep. I’ve read about it, believed it, and preached it many times to encourage other writers. As Lysa TerKeurst once said, God never runs out. He isn’t dividing one pie into smaller and smaller pieces so that everybody gets a sliver. He doesn’t run out of pie, He just creates a new one.

When Hurry Sounds Like Wisdom but Feels Like Fear

The miserably rushed feeling within me wasn’t coming from God.

He doesn’t drive us from behind pushing us to rush the process. He gently leads us step by step.

Maybe you’re not writing a book. Maybe the calling in front of you looks completely different. Perhaps you’re starting a new business, raising children, leading a ministry, caring for aging parents, going back to school, creating something new, or simply trying to obey God in a season that feels slow and unseen.

But if you’ve ever looked around you and thought, Someone else is already doing what I feel called to do, then this message is for you.

Their obedience does not cancel yours. An open door for them doesn’t close yours. Their progress doesn’t mean you are behind.

God isn’t asking you to outrun someone else. He just wants you to run your race.

The catch is, you have to obey what He’s asking you to do. And truthfully, this is an area in which I’m growing. I’ve got a calendar filled with my list of things to do, and I always say I schedule what’s important. Morning rituals (thank you, Jennifer Dukes Lee), check. Jesus and Coffee, check. Editing client’s work, check. Church and home routines, check. But that little block of time at the end of the day that says “writing” is one I’ve deleted more times than I can count. By the time I get there, I’m just too tired from checking off the other boxes.

When Almost Obedient Still Isn’t Obedient

I was recently reading John Bevere’s book, The Awe of God. One of the stories he shared was about King Saul’s battle against the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15). In emphasizing the importance of complete obedience to God, he explained that Saul was 99.99% obedient in that battle, but because of not being fully obedient, God was displeased.[i] The Word tells us in 1 Samuel 15:11 that God says, “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My commands.”

I don’t want God to be sorry that He trusted me with an assignment. In talking to my husband about how I was feeling, he suggested I pray about how God wanted me to order my day. As a box checker-offer, I love the feeling of accomplishment when I know I’ve done all I intended. But when I’ve done almost all God has called me to do, then I’ve been disobedient with my day. So this is where I am.

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Comparison Can Make You Forget Your Lane

God has a plan for my life. He’s given me a specific set of talents, a particular personality, and a calling unlike anyone else’s. The responsibility for complete obedience, however, is mine.

That is why comparison can be so dangerous. Comparison doesn’t just make us feel insecure. Sometimes it makes us feel rushed. It can convince us that if someone else is moving, we must be behind. When someone else is producing, comparison can convice us we have to rush. If someone else is being used by God, there must be less room for us. If there’s no place for what we are called to do, then what is the point of doing it?

But God’s Kingdom doesn’t work that way.

He’s not asking me to run her race faster; He’s asking me to be faithful with mine.

Hebrews 12:1b says, “Let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us.” (emphasis mine)

That means there is a lane God has assigned to me and a lane He’s assigned to you. There are people you can reach with the message He’s given you and different ones who will be moved by mine. Someone else’s obedience shouldn’t make us panic. It should remind us God is moving through all who will say yes to Him, and He wants us to be moving with Him, as He leads. It should stir us to obey, not to perform.

And that is the difference.

Pressure Pushes, but Purpose Leads

Pressure says, Hurry up or you’ll miss your chance.

Purpose says, Take the next step God gave you. He’s just waiting for you to obey.

Pressure says, Someone else is going to beat you to it.

Purpose says, No one else can obey God for you.

Pressure says, You are behind.

Purpose says, God knows exactly where you are, what your schedule demands, and what you’re feeling. He wouldn’t ask you to do what you were incapable to obey.

That hurried feeling within me that day was not holy urgency. I know what that feels like, too. But this was fear dressed up like responsibility. And it was a lie.

Fear is a terrible leader. God prompts us. He convicts us. And He corrects us, just like He did me. But He won’t bully us into obedience. He leads with peace, wisdom, and truth.

When Good Things Crowd Out God Things

Obedience may not always feel easy. Sometimes it looks like rearranging the day to prioritize the assignments God has given. Sometimes it means saying no to something good so we can say yes to something God has asked us to do. It looks like admitting, “God, I’ve made room for many important things, but I’ve not faithfully made room for what You keep asking me to do. I ask You to forgive me.” And then adjust and follow through so you are doing the most righteous things, not just all the right things. God things deserve more than leftover energy.

And that realization stings.

Because I don’t want to just be productive with good things. I want to be faithful with God things. To be faithful with His calling so He isn’t disappointed with how I spent the time He’s given me.

And maybe you understand where I am. Maybe God has been nudging you to make a phone call, start a small group, write a note, apologize first, create a thing, serve in a new way, start that business, mentor someone, open your home, or take one brave step toward the dream He planted in your heart years ago.

Maybe you keep deleting it from your schedule, too. Moving it to the next available slot.

Not because you don’t care, are unwilling, or don’t love the Lord. Your life is full, responsibilities are real, and by the time everything else is done, the energy to obey in that area feels spent.

I understand more than you know.

But I’m learning delayed obedience is disobedience. And that deserves my attention. Not shame or condemnation, but attention and even repentence.

Don’t Rush Ahead, but Don’t Hold Back

If God has trusted us with an assignment, then we can trust Him with the timing, the process, and the pace. We don’t have to rush because someone else is moving. But we also cannot use “I’m trusting God’s timing” as an excuse to avoid the next step He already gave us.

That is the balance I am learning. Don’t rush ahead in fear. Don’t lag behind in disobedience.

Walk with God. Step by step. Day by day. Instruction by instruction. Every five minutes of obedience that I make time for is one step closer to having completed the task God has assigned. And even the smallest steps in the right direction matter.

The author I heard that day is not my competition. She is my sister in Christ, obeying God in the lane He gave her. I can cheer for her and still be faithful with what He has asked of me.

And you can, too.

The person doing something similar to what God put in your heart is not proof that you are too late. It may simply be confirmation that the need is real.

There is room in God’s Kingdom for your obedience, your voice, your story, and your gift. There is room for the way God wants to work through you. So take the pressure off, but don’t lay the assignment down.

Your Next Step Doesn’t Have to Be Big

Ask God what obedience looks like today. Maybe it’s fifteen minutes, one conversation, or one small act of courage. Maybe it’s adjusting your calendar so the thing He keeps highlighting no longer gets whatever is left over.

You don’t have to outrun anyone, prove you belong, or force a door open before God says it’s time.

You only have to run the race He set before you, with your eyes on Jesus, trusting that His timing is not threatened by anyone else’s progress.

God is not asking you to hurry in fear. He is inviting you to obey in faith.

So take one step, even small, in faith—without rushing ahead. Trust Him with the pace, and keep showing up, knowing His timing will bear fruit.

A Prayer of Courage

“Father, help me recognize the difference between Your leading and the pressure to perform. Forgive me for the times I have compared my calling to someone else’s obedience or have delayed full obedience. Teach me to run the race You have set before me with faithfulness, peace, and courage. Help me obey the next step without rushing ahead in fear or lagging behind in distraction. I trust Your timing, Your purpose, and Your plan for my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

A Gift for You

If this message met you in a tender place, too, I created a free Run Your Race Reflection Guide to help you pause, pray, and ask God what your next faithful step looks like. It is a simple place to release comparison, quiet the pressure, and remember that their obedience does not cancel yours. You can download the free reflection guide here: Run Your Race Free Reflection Guide Downloadable PDF.

And if you would like to spend a little more time walking through this with God, the full Run Your Race: A 5-Day Guided Prayer Journal is also available. It includes five days of Scripture, devotional encouragement, guided prompts with space for writing, a Pressure or Purpose Assessment, a Weekly Obedience Plan, three pages of short confessions you can speak over yourself that align with the Word, and prayers to help you follow God’s peace instead of pressure. You can find the full journal here: Run Your Race Journal Downloadable PDF. As a special gift to you, I’ve got it listed on sale through Mother’s Day, so if you’d like to get it, I encourage you not to delay.

I pray these resources bless your heart as much as they did mine while I wrote them.

References:

[i] John Bevere, The Awe of God: The Astounding Way a Healthy Fear of God Transforms Your Life (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2023),page 166.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

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If this message encouraged you to keep trusting God when the timing feels long and the outcome feels impossible, you’ll find more hope in Holly’s book, Believing for a Miracle available in paperback and Kindle versions on Amazon.

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