Conquering Procrastination

Nothing, and I mean nothing, is more distressing than to witness someone who is filled with great gift and potential, waste it because they won’t take the risk, and forge forward in faith, trusting God, and executing their purpose. Charles Dickens once wrote, “My advice is, never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time. Collar him!”

St Augustine of Hippo, one of the truly great leaders of the church once said, “God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.” Even our Lord Jesus Christ addressed procrastination in Luke 9:59-62:

59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But that man said, “Sir, first let me go back and bury my father.”
60 Jesus answered, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”
61 Someone else said, “I will follow you, sir; but first let me go and say goodbye to my family.”
62 Jesus said to him, “Anyone who starts to plough and then keeps looking back is of no use to the Kingdom of God.”

Please understand that while most don’t categorize PROCRASTINATION as sin, it’s clear from scripture that it is. My church family, here’s our dilemma. Time is moving, but many have yet to fulfill their dreams. Each of you are incredibly gifted, grace with God’s inexhaustible love but you feel stuck in a place we call a rut. Because you do not understand this, you are forfeiting money, relationships, opportunities, amazing experiences, and TIME. Some may be wondering why things aren’t better. What is missing and why can’t I seem to get it together? I feel like there’s more to do, but nothing seems to satisfy me!

The answer lies in one word, PROCRASTINATION, which is the action of delaying or postponing something. Notice it is defined as an action. It’s a verb. In essence, it’s the act of not doing something that needs to be done in a certain time. It’s an unwillingness to commit to the process. Barack Obama in one of his great speeches once said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change we seek”.

My challenge is to call each of us from this stagnant place of waiting, into a proactive place of pursuing God’s glorious plan for us. It is to fully trust what God has called us to, and not wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be gloomy and grim if we delay what we are called to today. Here are some steps needed to overcome PROCRASTINATION:

1. Pray earnestly to God for the inner and outer resources needed.
2. Identify someone who is vested in your success and empower them.
3. Schedule your life around what you are committed to.
4. Start and don’t become discouraged.
5. Celebrate progress.

So Partners, do your best to make today the best day possible. Move your life forward and enjoy the journey!