Put Off Procrastination

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Closer to Understanding

Mindset

31 Aug

Like most humans, this recovering procrastinator sometimes balks at another’s authority over me. Let’s continue looking at Psalm 19:12-13 (NKJV) and the insights from Strong’s Concordance. Please read Who Can Understand? (August 17, 2015) and Trying to Understand (August 24, 2015).

“Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.

“Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless. And I shall be innocent of great transgression.”

According to this, my cleanness, freedom, innocence is related to whether or not I have sinned in God’s eyes. “Transgression” here refers to breaking away from just authority – specifically God’s to whom the psalmist is speaking.

Of course God is our highest authority, but there are people to whom we are responsible too. A counsellor once told me a prideful person is one who does not want anybody else telling him what to do. Even that can lead to procrastination – choosing my preference over God or another person to whom I am responsible.

Therefore I sometimes refuse to do what needs doing when it needs doing. “I don’t have to pick George up right at 5 p.m. I can shop a little longer.” “I’ll return those club record books when it’s more convenient. I don’t think Jane needs them now.” Or a child’s version, “I don’t have to go in until she uses my middle name!”

I want to be “free” of that authority or of that needed thing, so I choose something else. Maybe it’s a rebel heart? This decision increases my burden physically (Still gotta do it), mentally (It distracts me), emotionally (It weighs on me), and spiritually (I resisted Him).

The apparent way to freedom – my way – brings bondage. The apparent way to bondage – respecting God’s authority through obedience – brings freedom. I’d rather be ruled by our good God than by my bent to procrastinate.

Still, I will sin. That means I need the fullest cleaning, the greatest freedom which comes from Jesus’s sacrifice for me. God, looking at me through Christ, sees me as innocent. Thank you, Lord! Our God equips us by His teaching and Holy Spirit’s power. AND He provides for our failings through the cleansing blood of Christ. Hallelujah!

What helps your heart want to please God more than to procrastinate?

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2 Comments

« Trying to Understand
Our Otter Daughter »

Comments

  1. Mary Roberts says

    September 3, 2015 at 8:34 am

    Ouch!! This post reminded me that pride is the basis of my procrastination! I balk at accountability and choose my preferences over God’s. Why is it so easy to reach for a book or the remote, but hard to be consistent having time with God? I want my way! Thanks for the insight this blog brings, especially now that the lazy days of Summer are over and Fall brings more opportunities to serve. I am going to seek God’s plan instead of my prideful preferences.

    Update on my “paperwork plans.” I went back to your January 14 blog the other day and reread my comment about getting important papers in order. Oh, dear! I got sidetracked so I decided to bite off one little piece and accomplish that this week. Our passports had expired so if God presents the opportunity to go out of the country (like the example in this blog post) I want to have them ready. I downloaded the paperwork and found birth certificates, etc. We went for passport photos and then drove straight to the passport office and completed the process! We celebrated with lunch and commented how the day had turned into a fun “day out” for us! Now, on to the next bite!

    Reply
    • Beth Sterne says

      September 3, 2015 at 10:44 am

      For sure, there is “the enemy within.” As someone said in a Sunday School class, our desire to do something besides get time alone with God is probably not as benign as we’d like to think it is. Though much is understandable, it still can work against us.

      But yea! Look what you did, Mary, getting your passports! Done! Plus you had fun doing it. ( I’m getting very big on having fun.) Congratulations!

      Don’t you feel motivated to take the next bite?

      Reply

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BETH STERNE
Welcome! It's great to have you here. I'm a follower of Christ and a learner of new ways. By His grace, I am gaining victory over procrastination. This is where I share struggles I face and lessons I'm learning. Join me and other sisters as we put off procrastination and put on peace.

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"Beth’s procrastination talk led me to understand procrastination as a heart issue in need of God’s restoration not just a change of my ways. Beth’s personal experiences helped me discover practical ways to attack my own procrastination. As a result I have become a more loving wife, mother and friend who is able to use the gifts God has given me more fully. I highly endorse this talk and would love to hear it again and again."
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2018-08-16T14:42:59-04:00

Carole S.

“Beth’s presentation on procrastination was truly eye-opening. I knew I had a problem with procrastination, but never thought twice about how it impacted my relationships and showed God that I wasn’t onboard with His plan. I began to see each instance took away from being fruitful; I was living for myself! After this revelation, I have been working on procrastinating less. I can see places opening up in my life for more peaceful moments, more time with and for friends and family, and more time for God’s plan to unfold. It’s amazing to know there’s more to life for me than a life full of “should haves” as a result of procrastination.”
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“After Beth came and shared about procrastination, many realized that it is possible through the Lord's power to stop putting off what God has called us to do. One mother finally started a blog and another posted a ladies; tea for her church months in advance so that ...she would not put off having it. Although I thought I was not someone who procrastinates, I realized I had some relationships that I needed to work on. Procrastination, I learned, is not just about getting things turned in on time, it's about listening to God and doing what He says to do when He tells you to and obeying God's Word.”
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Beth Sterne - Put Off Procrastination
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise! It has
no commander, no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Proverbs 6:6-8
... you have put off the old man with
his deeds, and have put on the new
man who is renewed in knowledge
according to the image of Him who
created him.
Colossians 3:9-10

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