Procrastination

Procrastination is the art of putting off until tomorrow what you don’t want to do today by doing something less distasteful. Usually, people put things off by checking their e-mail or Facebook. When faced with a deadline, I often procrastinate by doing things that make me feel productive while not actually doing the thing I dread. For instance, when faced with grading week 2 of my online class, I cleaned out my refrigerator and took out the trash and washed up the mess. I have been putting off cleaning out the refrigerator for over a week because I hate doing it, but suddenly that seemed superior to grading. I often get a lot of mundane house cleaning done on days that grades are due. I take a “break” from grading to wash dishes or clean out the refrigerator.

One Friday, the day on which grades are due, I had an epiphany of sorts…a light bulb moment if you will. God knows everything. God knows I do this. Is it possible that God sends things my way, things I don’t like or want, in order to motivate me to do something He has already given me to do? For instance, did he make my “day” job so miserable that the uncertainty of becoming a full-time writer seemed more attractive? 

If this is true, then couldn’t I make my life a lot easier by not procrastinating? Wouldn’t I be better off finding ways to motivate myself, like the refrigerator/grading scenario, before God decides to get involved?

Just a thought.

Patterns

Understanding patterns can often be a little stressful and aggravating. It doesn’t matter what kind of pattern it is. For instance, I oncen had to restart a knitting project 5 times because I didn’t understand the pattern. I thought I did until I got a few rows in and realized something was dreadfully wrong. Then, I’d pull out all the stitches, get out the instructions, read over them again, consult with experts, and start again. With the help of two experts over the course of two days, it finally became clear what the problem was: perspective. I obviously didn’t have the right one. The pattern was for a hat, which is in the round, but the person who wrote the pattern had laid it out in a way that was foreign to me. When the expert showed me that the pattern is like a map of the globe that has been drawn out on a flat surface, the pattern started to make sense.

There is a pattern in Philippians chapter 2 that also can seem foreign and difficult at first glance:

⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

⁷ But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

The only pattern that is of any real importance is that of Christ. As Christians, we are to follow the pattern of Christ. In this world, it seems odd – foreign, if you will – to become a servant and serve others and be obedient to commandments that seem outdated to nonbelievers. However, when you talk to the Expert, it slowly begins to make sense. That sometimes means, ripping out the stitches and starting over again until we get it right, but the end result is worth the effort.

Trust/Faith

It's amazing how things come back around. I hope I have finally learned this lesson, but I'm afraid it will probably come around again. It's easy to see the vision on the mountaintop, but it's easy to lose sight of it in the valley. It's all about FAITH.

Haggai 2:4 - “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:”

Psalm 9:10 – “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

Psalm 40:4 – “Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.”

Joshua 8:1 - “And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land:”

Do you see a pattern here? These are the verses that have been coming to me since Sunday. Twice in one day I was given the word to “be strong” and then “trust in the Lord,” followed by “work.” I keep getting encouragement to work and not be afraid of failure because God is in it and I can trust him to keep his promises. Oh yeah, that was the scripture from the sermon Sunday Philippians 1:6. When I get the same word from various places and people on this scale, I know that God is speaking to me. I only have to listen and heed what he has to say.

Trust in the Lord.

Have faith.

Be strong…work.