In Praise of Procrastination
Sometimes I put off doing things. There are a few things that have been forwarded from one day to the next in my planner... for weeks! Today I finished one of them, and it sure felt good.
I will be one of the presenters at a Women's Retreat this fall. I was to have sent in my topic, title and outline some time ago. I felt I knew what the Lord would have me speak about and had a fairly good idea of how to develop the thought... but I could never seem to get it down on paper. That sort of distillation of a plan or information into outline form used to be my "long suit," but my last head injury has definitely left me in "short pants" in that regard.
Every time I sat down to get the outline done, I found something else "more urgent" to do, became too fatigued to work or simply sat staring blankly at the computer monitor. While I felt quite confident I could do the presentation, I was overwhelmed by the task of organizing and outlining it.
As a former member of the Platform Assn. (a public speakers guild), I knew I needed to have an outline to do my best job... and God deserves my very best work! So, I prayed for the outline to flow. I knew what I wanted to say and even knew how to say it... so what could be the problem?!
We had a potluck and a seminar after church today and by the time we got home, I was done in. I napped for an hour or so and continued to lay snuggled in the warm folds of my soft blanket for a while after I awoke. As I lay there, the points for the outline for my presentation marched through my brain in perfect formation! I popped out of bed and had it typed out in no time! Indeed, this is a perfect example of what I am going to talk about... how God uses the weak and no-account things (and people) of this world... HE provides for them and enables them, lest any man should boast.
(I Cor 1:27-29)
"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."
My outline came directly from the Lord. How do I know? Because I had been unable to create it... totally! I am supposed to be writing a book about brain injury from the patient's point of view... I have written several "pieces" of it but cannot seem to come up with an outline or plan for the book. Indeed, the outline I wrote today is the first task of that sort I have been able to do since my injury. It is a major deal! It is a GOD deal!!
Procrastination is normally not a good thing, but as you can see in this case, I needed to wait on the Lord. I was not able to get the job done... and believe me, I had tried! Of course, I must confess, I have put off a few things just because I didn't like doing them... God is working with me in that.
I will be one of the presenters at a Women's Retreat this fall. I was to have sent in my topic, title and outline some time ago. I felt I knew what the Lord would have me speak about and had a fairly good idea of how to develop the thought... but I could never seem to get it down on paper. That sort of distillation of a plan or information into outline form used to be my "long suit," but my last head injury has definitely left me in "short pants" in that regard.
Every time I sat down to get the outline done, I found something else "more urgent" to do, became too fatigued to work or simply sat staring blankly at the computer monitor. While I felt quite confident I could do the presentation, I was overwhelmed by the task of organizing and outlining it.
As a former member of the Platform Assn. (a public speakers guild), I knew I needed to have an outline to do my best job... and God deserves my very best work! So, I prayed for the outline to flow. I knew what I wanted to say and even knew how to say it... so what could be the problem?!
We had a potluck and a seminar after church today and by the time we got home, I was done in. I napped for an hour or so and continued to lay snuggled in the warm folds of my soft blanket for a while after I awoke. As I lay there, the points for the outline for my presentation marched through my brain in perfect formation! I popped out of bed and had it typed out in no time! Indeed, this is a perfect example of what I am going to talk about... how God uses the weak and no-account things (and people) of this world... HE provides for them and enables them, lest any man should boast.
(I Cor 1:27-29)
"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."
My outline came directly from the Lord. How do I know? Because I had been unable to create it... totally! I am supposed to be writing a book about brain injury from the patient's point of view... I have written several "pieces" of it but cannot seem to come up with an outline or plan for the book. Indeed, the outline I wrote today is the first task of that sort I have been able to do since my injury. It is a major deal! It is a GOD deal!!
Procrastination is normally not a good thing, but as you can see in this case, I needed to wait on the Lord. I was not able to get the job done... and believe me, I had tried! Of course, I must confess, I have put off a few things just because I didn't like doing them... God is working with me in that.
1 Comments:
You are always an inspiration to me, and I love your practical Christianity.
Most appreciatively yours, my friend....
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