Have A Stress-Less Life Today
I’ve never been known as the person who looks ahead in a project. You know, the person who sees what they need to do and schedules an organization technique that would make the project easy and ready to turn in on time without a lot of rushing about. One word can sum me up pretty easily, and that is a procrastinator. Yes, I admit it. And I know there are many jokes about us procrastinators. “Procrastinators Unite! . . . Tomorrow” and so on. Friends will tell you that I’m often rushing to finish a project the night before it’s due. Then I complete it and feel a lot better. It never occurred to me that there was a much better life on the other side: that getting stressed out and staying up past midnight didn’t have to be the only way I could accomplish a project.
Honestly, I never looked at is as a bad thing, just something I’ve always done. I never paid much attention to procrastination until it started affecting my spiritual life. That procrastinator inside me wanted to break out while I was praying. She didn’t want to see what God was going to do, or wanted to put it off until another time. It was unhealthy, and stealing the precious moments that I had in a day — or rather, the precious moments that I could have been preparing for. Procrastination had me in a hard place. Would I continue the way I’ve always been and miss out on the blessings I could be having? Would I put off something I felt to do in prayer, saying an encouraging word to someone or praying for another person? Or would I step up into a new dimension, something that I’ve never done before? Would I start to become . . . a non-procrastinator?
Too many times I’ve missed out on something God was trying to teach me. Whether it was listening to his voice in prayer or just stepping out of my comfort zone, I missed out because I would always do it “later”. It’s an endless circle, the same pattern I’ve had since I was a little girl, and I wanted to break it. It was then that I realized that in order to get in a higher dimension with God, I needed to turn myself over completely to him. Every fault, every strength, and every weakness needed to be turned over to Him. I no longer wanted distractions to come between me and God — even if that meant getting over my procrastination. Once we come to that place of commitment, God will take our hand and carry us to that higher dimension.
When we get there, we will face attacks. But whether the attacks are of fear, resentment, or shame, we have a Shield that will protect us. Not only is God our Shield, but He will strengthen us to overcome and fight back. We can’t let distractions come between us and God. We need to zero in and focus. Instead of rushing for the big finish, we need to organize ourselves so we can learn what God wants to teach us at the time He is teaching us. Not only is it healthy for us, it’s essential to going to that dimension.
I really liked the line “Too many times I’ve missed out on something God was trying to teach me. Whether it was listening to his voice in prayer or just stepping out of my comfort zone, I missed out because I would always do it “later”. ” It’s so me. Im sure im not the only one that can relate to what you wrote today Nathalie, great job describing what many of us go through, but never identify.
Thanks for the great article and insights!
You tackled a big issue because alot of us deal with the procrastination problem. I do. It is amazing how it affects more then one aspect of my life. Thank you! very eye opening!
May great articles like this start a non-procrastination epidemic. That would do more damage to the kingdom of darkness than anything else, because there are a lot of good people who mean to do a lot of good things that never get done.
I love your statements of faith!
Great topic, procrastination. I’ll admit it too, had great bearing on my life. I even went to the library and took out a book on it. Bet you thought I was going to say I didn’t read it…but I did. I needed help. I did not know the Lord then, but He knew me. Looking back at it now from a biblical standpoint, it seems to be just pride rearing up it’s ugly head. Pride says we are much better than we think we are and we can do everything at the last minute and make it through. We can pump ourselves up into grandiosity if we are not careful. Fooling ourselves with our own self worth is what the world demands of us, until we meet Jesus. I’m so glad I know Him and He gives me a Stress-less life today. Here’s a little poem that puts life into perspective for me:
In His time, In His Place, In His Mercy, and In His Grace. I really love your honesty in bringing to light what so many of can relate to. Thanks!