The Battle to Finish Part 3: Am I Hustling… or Forcing What God Closed?
The Fine Line Between Holy Tenacity and Flesh-Driven Stubbornness
Let’s be brutally honest.
There’s a kind of drive that kinda looks like faith but is actually fear in disguise. Such as
Fear of missing out.
Fear of making mistakes, failing and appearing like a failure.
Fear of surrendering control.
We baptize it in spiritual language:
“I’m believing for my breakthrough.”
“I’m standing in faith.”
“I’m not giving up.”
But underneath, sometimes — we’re not waiting on God.
We’re either TAKEN action and now we WANT God to approve what we have started OR waiting for God to approve what we already decided to do.
“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every matter under heaven.”
— Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NASB)
God moves in seasons…and not all seasons are harvest.
Sometimes the delay isn’t demonic.
Sometimes the delay is the discipline.
The spiritual danger of hustle:
Hustle makes you believe that time is your enemy.
“I need to close this deal now.”
“If I don’t launch this now, I’ll lose momentum.”
“If I pause, someone else will take my place.”
So you keep knocking — not because God hasn’t opened the door, but because you’ve convinced yourself He must open it.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”
— Psalm 127:1 (NASB)
The flesh whispers: “Move faster, or you’ll lose your shot or someone else will take it.”
The Spirit whispers: “I am never late. But you can be early.”
The question is not: “Am I doing enough?”
The real question is: “Am I moving at God’s pace — or mine?”
How to know if you’re forcing the door and attempting to force His hand:
You feel anxious when things slow down.
You obsess over metrics more than obedience.
You’re afraid to pause, rest, or recalibrate.
You struggle with peace when results are delayed.
Your joy is tethered to external progress.
Truth Bombs
Faith is not measured by how hard you push.
Faith is measured by calm and chill obedience — even when you don’t see the fruit yet.
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways.”
— Psalm 37:7 (NIV)
Worse: The enemy doesn’t always attack you with failure.
That’s easy to deal with.
It’s more troublesome when the enemy attacks you with premature success. Because it may give you false confidence and false confirmation that it’s God’s blessing for you.
But truly, success before you’re ready will crush you.
Doors that are forced open before God’s appointed time will become burdens you were never built to carry.
Waiting on God is not weakness - it’s good to spend time with the Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, to seek their presence and guidance and wisdom. In fact, it’s good AND strategic spiritual warfare.
Timing is not your job.
Obedience is.