An often-referenced maxim says, “You can’t cross the ocean by merely standing on the beach staring at the water”. Although not stated in these exact words, the concept is addressed in several scriptures. Don’t sit there watching the wind. Do your own work. Don’t stare at the clouds. Get on with your life (Eccl 11:4 MSG). The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied (Prov 13:4). We can apply this saying to many areas in life. “You can’t build a house just by walking through Lowes and dreaming.” “You can’t earn a graduate degree by browsing through school catalogs.” “You can’t become more like Christ by only going to church or seminars.” How many dreams do all of us have, yet we’re still strolling on the beach wishing?
During a recent lunch with a pastor, our conversation led to discipleship. His concern was Christians who knew and understood the Bible including the how-to’s of living a victorious life but were failing. The root problem is they have tucked away this knowledge in their mind and never taken the steps of integration and application into their everyday life. Education includes at least four stages—knowledge, understanding the knowledge, integration into life, and application to circumstances or putting it to practice. When someone doesn’t include integration and application, they are no better than an individual standing on the beach wishing he/she could get to the other side.
One study reported 98% of people never fulfill all their dreams or goals. The question we must ask ourselves if we have unfulfilled aspirations, “what’s hindering me”. Two reasons usually top the list. Procrastination starts as a bad habit and can progress into a chronic disorder. It means ‘tomorrow’ and defined as the act or the habit of putting off or delaying an action, typically with plans to do it later. Martin Luther noted, “how soon ‘not now’ becomes ‘never’”. As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you” (Act 24:25 NIV). No record exist that Felix ever found a convenient time or sent again for Paul. Satan makes such we invariably find a million reasons to postpone.
The worst form of procrastination comes because of laziness, mentioned as far back as the book of Exodus. Twelve times Solomon condemns laziness personifying it as the sluggard. The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing (Pro 20:4). Of course, the sluggard always has an excuse. The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets” (Pro 22:13)! The predominant reason we put off comes from fear—fear of the unknown, fear of mistakes, fear of failure, fear of the work success may require, etc. All of us could continue this list with our own fears. Form early childhood people teach us that failure is not an option—we must succeed. But, “Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success” (Anonymous). C. S. Lewis said it well, “Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.” The only way we can fail is to quit. The only way we succeed is try again with the lesson we learned by failing.
We can procrastinate by ‘over analyzing’. Nothing wrong with thinking through a goal, but the time arrives when we must just do it. My strength of researching, studying, and analyzing scripture can also become a weakness. Even in writing Sustaining Word, I find myself searching for one more article, looking for just one more scripture, or reading and rereading, etc. The time comes I must do as newspapers publishers says, “Put it to bed.” Then I trust God. If something happens to be wrong, I learn from the mistake and do it better next week.
An example in the Bible when delay would have been disastrous is the story of Esther. Some Jews remained in Persia after Cyrus decreed the Jew could return to Israel. Through God’s providence, Esther, a young Jewish girl had been chosen to be Queen. Haman the prime minister devised a plot to exterminate all the Jews. Esther’s uncle came telling her she must intervene to the King. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this? (Est 4:14). The Hebrew word for ‘such a time’ means a ‘window of opportunity’. The word implies the window will close at some point. Procrastination was not an option. It literally became ‘do or die’. Risking the possibility of death, she approached the King, even without his invitation, and the Jews lived.
Israel was ready to enter the Promised Land, but a barrier stopped their advancement—the flooded Jordan River. We know they thought through the options. The reality is they could have camped there for days fasting and praying, but nothing would have changed. They had to trust the Lord. At the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp and told them when the priests were standing in the water with the Ark they were to move forward. I can’t imagine the people weren’t a bit fearful in the middle standing on dry ground. Without any logical understanding or more planning, they walked across on dry ground.
Sustaining Word for the Week: Instead of strolling on the beach wishing, start fulfilling our dream today.