Procrastinators of The World UNITE... Tomorrow!!

As long as I can remember I’ve always put things off to the last minute. One time I had to turn in a science project for a grade and the science fair competition. We had months to work on this! I of course waited until the night before to even decide what it was I was going to do my project on! So, I came home from school that day and flipped through some encyclopedias (we didn’t have Google then) and figured out I wanted to do my project on soil. Hey, I had plenty of dirt around me and all I needed was three types of soil and water. So I measured the rate at which water drained through each soil and recorded my findings, made some index cards, threw them on a spray painted wooden tri-fold back board and called it a night.

The next day I carried my backboard in along with little pie tins full of the different soils I used. This project was looking a hot mess! I remember going to the science fair that night for the judging and expecting to be utterly embarrassed by the grade. However, I was completely shocked when they called my name for first place in my division.

Somehow I’ve made it through life always putting off until tomorrow what I really should get done today. It hasn’t always paid off like my science project. A missed bill equals an unnecessary late fee and the list could go on. My thought on procrastination is that it is essentially delayed obedience and I’ve heard it said that delayed obedience is disobedience.

There are times when God speaks to me, whether it is to do something or to put something out of my life that I procrastinate. I get it done eventually, but not when asked.  A perfect example of a delayed obedience in the Bible is Jonah. When God sent Him to Nineveh, he ran as far away as possible until he had a change of heart and followed through with his mission. Of course he had to be swallowed by a great fish and spend a few days in his belly before he changed his mind!

There’s also examples of instant obedience: Abraham – when God called him to set out to the land He would lead him to and he left everything immediately; Moses – when God called him to go to Pharaoh and demand he set the Israelites free, he did so risking his life; the disciples – Jesus said come follow me and they dropped what they were doing and followed. My favorite though, is when Jesus is walking on water to the boat the disciples were on and calls Peter to join Him. He steps out of the boat and walks – on water!

It pleases God when we obey and we are rewarded for doing so. We need to remember that He only has our best interest in mind when He speaks to us. He is sovereign and is in complete control of the situation – no matter what it looks like to us!

He hasn’t called us to be procrastinators or to delay our obedience. He’s called us to step out on faith and trust Him. It is simply doing our best for Him and doesn’t He deserve our best?

Crystal Owens

Crystal  has a passion for reaching youth and a heart for missions.She is currently teaching a weekly adult Bible study and a monthly Bible study for Women.