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Program D-7314
Procrastination is a deadly bad habit, and if you continue in it, it will rob you of fulfillment, of accomplishment, of joy, of success, and most importantly, of doing what God put you here to do.
Denis Waitley has said, “Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the ‘someday I’ll’ philosophy.”
You know, fear is at the root of most of our “issues.” And we know from Romans 8 that we—those who are born from above, who have been made new creations in Christ—we “did not receive a spirit that makes us a slave again to fear, but we received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” The Apostle Paul is reminding us that Christ has come to set us free from our fears, so that we are not afraid to step out by faith to do what God has called us to do. But unfortunately, too often we allow ourselves to remain slaves to our fears.
Does this strike a familiar note with you? Can you see that your bad habit of procrastination is in reality the way you’ve coped with your fear of success? Living in mediocrity, sitting on the sidelines, never stepping out by faith to pursue the abundant life Jesus came to give you, is truly a miserable place to be. Yes, you will avoid some responsibilities, you will avoid some failure, you will avoid people criticizing what you’re doing, but you will miss the great joy that comes when you’re right in the center of God’s will, doing the good works he planned for you to do.
There are lots of reasons to put this bad habit of procrastination behind you, but the most important one is because it will free you to live the exciting life of walking by faith. It is exciting. I think of a friend of mine—one woman—who stepped out on faith about 14 years ago to begin an after-school program for the most disadvantaged children in the Chicago school system. She began with 17 children, and now there are almost 1000 in four different locations throughout Chicago. One thousand children who are tutored and encouraged, loved and fed, and given the gospel three days a week. And now many of these children are enrolled in college. One woman who continues to live by faith, and as a result hundreds of lives are being changed for eternity.
What is procrastination stealing from you?