The Danger of Waiting
Procrastination has been a thorn in my side for as long as I can remember. While I find I work well under the pressure of a tight deadline, doing so isn’t something I take pride in. Especially after I came across a quote about this very thing that has been hard for me to forget. It has left me with a reminder to make my time count.
“Procrastination is a thief that steals from your destiny and causes you to miss out on Divine opportunities and appointments. Stop putting off for tomorrow what you can accomplish today! [Procrastination is] the behavioral byproduct of a lack of understanding about the delay of an opportunity, which is grace. It is the arrogant assumption that God owes you another chance to do tomorrow what He gave you a chance to do today.”
Let me repeat that last bit. I am arrogant when I believe that I will have more time to do something God has told me to do now. It is foolish to count on having another day of our lives, yet we do it all the time.
Life is a fragile, uncontrollable thing. We never know when normal will shift, when our time is up. This last year has been a reality check for many of us. If we had only known, what would we have done differently? If the same were to happen this year, how would we approach this January?
These are the questions that I ask myself frequently. I’ve been an avid maker of New Year Resolutions, only to have given up on them by the following month (if I was lucky enough to get that far). I have found that my constant pushing back and procrastinating on the things I need and want to achieve leaves me with nothing but wasted time. I am convicted this year that these days truly count. While I may be young, one never knows what the next day holds. And that is why my days need to matter.
James 4:13-14 (AMPC) warns us of the foolishness to waste this time:
“Come now, you who say, ’ today or tomorrow we will go into such and such city and spend a year there and carry our business and make money. Yet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen tomorrow.’ What is the nature of your life? You are [really] but a wisp of vapor (a puff of smoke, a mist) that is visible for a little while and then disappears [into thin air].”
I have let much of my life pass with the idea that I will always have tomorrow or next year; however, now, I want to live with a conviction to live a meaningful life now. And I encourage you to join me.
Make your resolutions and keep them. Make goals and take steps each day to move towards them. Truly challenge yourself to make your words count. Don’t let 2021 go by and come in 2022 with the same resolutions. Grow, change, and learn this year. Take the dreams God has given you that you’ve forgotten about or talked yourself out of and work with Him to make them a reality. Push through the false comfort procrastination and avoiding change gives you. Though what we see in the world may not match this reality, you need to believe that this can turn out to be a beautiful year—you simply have to do your part in it.
May God bless you in 2021 and give you the fiery passion you need to live this year with the conviction to make both your time matter and the resolutions you make come to pass.