Are You A Victim of Procrastination Or, A More Excellent Way?
Have you ever been in a place where you’ve procrastinated about something that needed to be done? And if you didn’t get it done, the longer you waited, it was going to eventually catch up with you?
Well Yeah! That was me. One Saturday, I danced around doing other things… But my mind kept telling me to pause and go to Krogers. Krogers was my usual run on Saturdays because we keep our grandchildren, and oh boy, we love filling up the cupboard with all of their favorite snacks.
By the way, I love their snacks too.
Because of my dancing around on Saturday. I convinced myself that making an adjustment to get to Krogers on Sunday wasn’t going to be a big deal. I only needed a few items so it wasn’t going to take me long to get in and out of the store.
Kroger has two entrances in the front. So this particular time, I went in through the entrance that was closest to the pharmacy. Unbeknownst to me, it was 1000 people in the self-checkout and 2000 in the regular checkout lines.
Stuck!
All I could think about was ”dancing around on Saturday all day.”
But have you ever been in a line so long that it made you not want the things you went to the store for?
Honestly, I immediately started looking for a place to sit these snacks down and high-tail it back to the car to make a 7-Eleven run. I was going to have to pay a pretty penny for my babies snacks. But it was worth it. Anything not to stand in that line.
The next time you visit your local grocer and you see stuff put down where it doesn’t belong. That could have been me. See, I’ll put my bag of grapes in the frozen pizza section. Or, the Nutella down by the soap.
In my mind, the line is already too long so I’m not walking all-the-way over to another aisle to put those doggone grapes back where they belong.
Don’t y’all judge me. You’ve probably done that a time or two as well. The line was just too long to wait.
Anyway, upon walking back to put the snacks down I was going to purchase for my grandsons, I stumbled upon a line with no one checking out. Shocked! The customers narrowly focused on getting out of their long lines; they missed the blessing at the opposite in of the store.
So, I checked out and as I was walking past the other customers that were standing in line. I tried to whisper to a few “Aye, there’s a line over there and ain’t nobody in it.”
One lady said… “Thank you so much.” But her husband abruptly said, “No, we’re going to stay right here.”
As I walked out of the store, I had an epiphany.
Isn’t that most of us. We’re not open to new information because we so dedicated to our old information. Most people remain dedicated to their choice, even in finding a more excellent way. Some would rather stay in the line because they picked it.
Is it fair to say that this is how we view life?
We choose to remain in our stuck places, even, when God sends someone along to show us a more excellent way so we don’t have to wait. I’ve learned just because I may have been waiting in a certain place. It doesn’t mean I have to finish the wait.
Consequently, the husband’s pride got in the way. He could have saved 15 minutes or more had he listened to my more excellent way.
Let me also conclude. The worst relationship you could ever be in is with your opinion.
It’s the hardest relationship because our opinions marry us and sometimes they refuse to give us a divorce. Our opinions follow us everywhere we go.
So, again, the most difficult relationship we can be in is not with our spouse or significant other or friend. But it’s with ourselves.
We all inevitably have to make decisions. The problem is, when new information comes that presents a more excellent way. We have a problem divorcing our choices.
I hear the spirit saying that you are in the most critical season of your life. You have to make a move.
God has chosen you into a royal place. Meaning you have to be ambidextrous in your decisions. Sometimes you will have to go on what you know. But above all, you’ll have to move on what God has said.
For instance, I have been in a place where I’ve made a decision and God waited right until I got to that door of opportunity and shifted me into another place called “There!” God didn’t tell me where “there” was until I got there.
I know right!
Sometimes God allows us to wonder and be confused in making decisions without His voice.
Subsequently, God didn’t speak to Moses from the age of 40 years old until he was 80 years old. He allowed Moses to walk around with no word for 40 years. It’s the same for us. God doesn’t give us a sign or a word in our frustration because He’s waiting for us to get “there.”
Then, God shows up!
Many of us know where “there” is but we’re waiting on God to give us direction. Sometimes He doesn’t tell us where we need to go. But when we show up. He makes that the promised place we should be in.
Just go there! You have to make a move.
You have to decide where you want to end up.
People don’t just jump up and make decisions that are going to affect their life. They should. But we’ll make New Year’s resolutions for about 6-16 days and afterwards, we return to what’s familiar. We have to make some decisions.
This next season should be getting yourself out of old relationships where people used their authority to make you think like them. The most dangerous relationships are those where we don’t use our minds. Anytime you’re in a relationship where your perspective is not appreciated, they should immediately earn your absence.
You have to get around people who care about what you think. Even, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”
In short, you have to get out of those relationships where you are not given the ability to think or have an opinion. You need a perspective. People should desire to know what you think.
In conclusion, procrastination is merely your avoidance to where you need to be. When you make a decision, be prepared to be hindered in 4 areas of your life:
Reputation: Proverbs 22:1 (NIV) A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. Ask God to protect your name and to not allow it to be destroyed in the season you’re going through. To keep your reputation intact, and to stop acting perfect as though you have never done anything wrong. You have to be determined to be the opposite of the picture someone has painted for you. Be determined to be the opposite of the picture that someone has painted of you.
Occupation: You will be working with others that are intentionally going to make life miserable for you. They won’t have a clue what you’re capable of doing. However, this may be a way of God telling you. You need to start your own business. It’s hard work. But failure is not accomplishing a goal. It’s to have a goal and not pursue it. I have failed so many times that I’ve lost count. But God has made my wins so big that it makes the losses palpable. If you have been called to greater and remain average, is it okay for me to say, you’re fearful and it displeases God.
Compensation: Oh Man! Your money will be under attack. This is the way that God will gauge your heart. Many times people don’t have enough money because they spend it and do not seed it. The devil makes sure we never have enough money to tithe so things keep coming up that we need to have done that’s important in our lives. And when we lack the understanding of sowing seeds. We won’t get the compensation we deserve. Nor, be able to help the next generation understand sowing and reaping if we don’t prepare ourselves.
Generation: Things are going to attack your family and children. Those difficult things are going to knock them off their feet. Divorce, diagnoses, and financial woes. Parents, it’s your time to move. You have to regain control of your house and the generation we are losing. Don’t allow them the opportunity to do things when they want to do it, how they want to do it, and where they want to do it. Don’t be fearful about taking your place of authority in their lives. Joshua 24:15 “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Your life starts now. It’s your year of elevation! It’s time to move!
