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There are times when God clearly wants us to stop, stand still, pray about a situation, and wait for further guidance. For me, that’s the hard part. I would rather move than stop and wait. But maybe for you moving is the hard part. You have trouble putting action to your words.
You’ve probably heard of the Tator Family—Dick Tator, the father, Emmy Tator, the mother, and then there’s Hessie Tator, the daughter. Well, Hessie is one who has trouble moving. She plans a lot. She strategizes a lot. She talks a lot, and holds lots of meetings, and makes lots of lists. But getting going—well, Hessie just has trouble moving.
I’ve noticed that procrastination is one of her biggest obstacles. She just keeps putting things off. Her intentions are terrific, but the follow-through breaks down very often.
Perhaps Hessie needs to remember what Jesus said to his disciples: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” Blessing comes in doing, but Hessie can’t seem to get to the “doing” stage, so she keeps missing the blessing.
Jesus’ life on earth confirms that he didn’t procrastinate. When he said he would travel to Jerusalem, he did so, even when he knew the cross awaited him there. What he promised, he fulfilled in every instance.
Jesus told a parable in Luke 6:48-49 about the one who hears the truth but does not act accordingly. He said that person is like one who builds a house on the sand, and as soon as the storms come, the house collapses and is ruined. When a person is a hearer but not a doer, they are inviting disaster into their lives, and denying the blessings that God has in store for them, for remember, the blessing is in doing, not in knowing.
Stop, Pray, Move! There are times to stop praying and get moving. I think some of us put things off because we’re afraid of failure. You know, whenever you do anything, you do run the risk of failing, but if that fear controls you, you’ll simply never do anything. And besides, no one ever succeeded without many failures along the way. Failure is a part of the process of success.
So, ask God to give you the courage to move when it’s time to move! Replace that fear of failure with the assurance that if you are moving at God’s direction, he is with you and will see you through.