I spent the day driving to Wilmington, North Carolina, having to take care of some items at the coast. As I drove, I thought deeply about where my life was heading, where I have been, and what I have failed to accomplish. Driving to Wilmington meant I would pass by the exit I took for five solid years while I was in college - exit 341, Highway 55. As I came upon the exit, the car steered itself off the exit and I drove out to the place that had taught me so much and continues to be a part of my pulse, though I am sixteen years removed from being a student.
I drove that familiar road and thought about how quickly time had passed. I am nearly forty. I was in my late teens and early twenties when that road was my weekly drive. I continue to feel like that young man who was filled with hopes and dreams but those days, the days of college, are becoming increasingly blurry with each passing year. I drove on to Wilmington, remembering the faces, the times, and the hope that great things would come as life progressed. I realized that life had gotten complicated, achievements were less than I thought they would be, and my level of frustration heightened with each revelation of that which had not been done.
After checking into my hotel, I drove to find something to eat. Yes, when you feel like you have come up short in life, eating is a great distraction. Trying to find something quick to eat, I ended up lost in a city I am not familiar with in the least. I was lost, but it turned out to be a great misadventure. As I listened to Christian radio, a man came on the radio and talked about procrastination. He went on to say, "Turn off that inane television program tonight and write the book you were meant to write." He added a few more examples, but I couldn't get past the first one. Had I not gotten lost, I would not have heard those words. Had I known where I was going, I would have likely been in my room or at a restaurant. My belief, however, is that God wanted me to hear those words, so he allowed me to wander around in Wilmington, a lot lost, to hear something He was trying to tell me for months.
Procrastination is a way of life for many of us. We struggle to prioritize and lack motivation. We quit. We give up. We start in on something new, filing back that which we never finished for a rainy day. We get wrapped up in the inane until it drives us insane. So where did it lead? I went to the Bible for the answer to getting beyond the complacent, to stop procrastinating and accomplish what God has called me to do. Here are some motivational verses I found when we think about procrastinating:
James 4:14 - "You don't even know what tomorrow will bring - what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes." (James 4:14 HCSB)
Psalm 39:4 - "Lord, reveal to me the end of my life and the number of my days. Let me know how short-lived I am." (Psalm 39:4 HCSB)
Psalm 78:39 - "He remembered that they were only flesh, a wind that passes and does not return." (Psalm 78:39 HCSB)
We are not guaranteed the next moment, so what are we to do? We are to do all that God has called us to do. For writers, that means we are to write!
