![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/DSC03937.jpg\" "\\"DSC03937\\"")
<\/a>I tend to aggravate myself when I wait until the last moment to get something done. Whether it\u2019s shipping a package, writing a blog post, or preparing my home for guests, when I put things off, I only cause more stress for myself. So why do I do it?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Who knows? There are many excuses, but none are sufficient or make me feel any better.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
God knew that we would have a problem with procrastination, so He has given us a good number of passages that speak directly to us on this topic. Let\u2019s look at just a few of them to see what He has to say.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll begin in the Old Testament. With the sayings of a wise man, Solomon.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.\u201d<\/em> (Proverbs 13:4 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.\u201d<\/em> (Ecclesiastes 11:4 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Part of procrastination is laziness. These verses clearly tell us that when we are lazy, we are not productive. We cannot expect to produce anything good in our lives when we are lazy. It just doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the New Testament, we see Jesus speaking with a few prospective followers. To one, Jesus spoke of His nomad lifestyle in response to the willingness to follow Jesus anywhere. To another, Jesus spoke of burial in response to a request of waiting for his father\u2019s burial. And to another, Jesus warned of the importance of moving forward in response to saying goodbye to family members (Luke 9:57-62).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The message was clear. Nothing should keep us from following Jesus. We must not wait. We must be intentional and immediate in our actions. We must not procrastinate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If procrastination is an issue for you, here are a few verses to help you along the way to becoming better time manager of your life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n First, we must give it to God. Proverbs 16:3 (NIV) says, \u201cCommit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.\u201d <\/em>What a promise for us to hold on to. If today you know you have a long \u201cto do\u201d list, commit it to God. He would love to share this day with you!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then we need to ask God for His help. God\u2019s strength is available for us. Philippians 4:13 (NIV) reminds us, \u201cI can do everything through him who gives me strength.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We may need to ask for help from others. Solomon knew the importance of good counsel. \u201cPlans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.\u201d<\/em> (Proverbs 15:22 \u2013 NIV) And in Proverbs 20:18 (NIV), we see, \u201cMake plans by seeking advice, if you wage war, obtain guidance.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And finally we read in Ephesians 5:16 (NIV) to \u201c\u2026make the most of every opportunity\u2026\u201d <\/em>It\u2019s time for us to stop procrastinating and make the most of our days and our lives.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now I know you\u2019re saying, \u201cBut there are other ways to get a package to Ohio and their deadline isn\u2019t today.\u201d Yes, that\u2019s also true. But if I don\u2019t do it today, I\u2019ll just be in line next week. Someplace else. With a different group of people. So I\u2019m opting to get it done today.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What are you going to get done today? What have you been putting off for another day that you can do today? Do you, like me, need God\u2019s help in getting it done? Then may I suggest we all look to Him for our strength today. Maybe today isn\u2019t going to be so bad after all.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Donna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today is the day. If you\u2019re like me, you probably have a deadline today as well. It is the last day to send packages by postal service. Yes, I have a package to get out and yes that means I\u2019ll be standing in line with some of my closest friends to get the package to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,16,17,14,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asking-god","category-following-god","category-obeying-god","category-seeking-god","category-trusting-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=573"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":582,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions\/582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}