Good morning. Today I would like to talk about an enemy of change in our lives and that is procrastination. To do this, turn with me to Exodus 8:1-15. It is in this passage, that we are going to see an example of procrastination. Before we take a look at that passage though, let’s open with a word of prayer. Let’s pray!
First, Let’s Look At What Procrastination Is?
Dictionary.com defines the word procrastinate, “To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.”
The reason many of us have the problems we have is because we are habitual procrastinators. We never take the necessary action we need to take in order to change our circumstances. Rick Warren writes, “Procrastination is a universal problem. Most of us know what we need to do, we just put it off. The problem with procrastination is that it becomes a way of life, a lifestyle. The more you do it the better you become at it. Some people are professional procrastinators.”
I found it interesting that the word procrastinate comes from the Latin, pro which means “of” and crastinus which means, “tomorrow.” The word procrastinate literally means, “of tomorrow.” Gloria Pitzer says, “Procrastination is my sin, it brings me nothing but sorrow, I know that I should stop it, in fact, I will tomorrow.”
This week I found several websites on the internet that were dedicated to the art of procrastination. One website contained what they call de-motivators. These are little note cards and calendars and posters you can put in your office at work or around the house to de-motivate you to do your best. This one reads, “Procrastination: Hard work often pays off over time, but laziness pays off now.” You can actually get that framed for your house for only $50.00! And then you can celebrate your procrastination.
So, that is what procrastination is, now let’s dig a little deeper into our topic for this morning.
Second, Let’s Look At A Biblical Example Of Procrastination.
Exodus 8:1-15 says, “1”
Pharaoh would be a great example of a procrastinator. A good example of a man in the Bible who procrastinated about a problem he had was the Pharaoh of Egypt. If you remember the story from the book of Exodus, the Hebrews had been held in captivity for years and God figured enough was enough. God sent Moses to lay down an ultimatum to Pharaoh – “Let my people go or else.” Pharaoh was stubborn and hard hearted and he refused to do as the Lord wished, so God proceeded to bring upon Egypt a series of vicious plagues. The 2nd of these plagues was the plague of the frogs.
Now this might not sound like a devastating act of God but Exodus tells us that there were so many frogs swarming the banks of the Nile that they came up into the houses, and the scripture says that frogs were found in ovens and even in their own beds. The land of Egypt was overrun by frogs. It was frog legs for breakfast, frog legs for lunch and frog legs for dinner.
Anyway, with frogs everywhere Pharaoh had apparently seen enough. So he summoned Moses and his brother Aaron who were leaders of the Hebrew slaves. He begged for them to remove the frogs and if they would do so, he would agree to let the people go.
So Moses said to the Pharaoh, “You set the time! Tell me when you want me to tell God you want the frogs gone.” Just say the word and I’ll stop the frogs. You know what Pharaoh’s response was? “Do it tomorrow.” Do it tomorrow? Here he was being consumed with frogs. He had frogs at his feet, frogs in his bed, and he wanted to wait until tomorrow to remove the frogs? Do it tomorrow Moses. I will live with it for one more day.
How often has that one word gotten us into trouble, “tomorrow.” “Tomorrow, I’ll start working on my drinking problem.” “Tomorrow I’ll tackle my debt.” “Tomorrow I’ll quit smoking.” “Tomorrow I’ll get to that school assignment.” “Tomorrow I’ll go look for that job.” “Tomorrow I’ll make that phone call.” “Tomorrow I’ll give my life to God.” “Tomorrow I’ll go to church.” “Tomorrow I’ll go visit that friend of mine.”
So there is our Biblical example of procrastination. Pharaoh had the chance to take care of his frog problem that day, but he procrastinated and decided to live with the frogs for another day. So know we know what procrastination is, and we have a good example of a procrastinator, so let’s move on.
Next, Let’s Look At Why We Procrastinate?
Well, why do you think we procrastinate about our problems? One reason I believe we procrastinate is Indecisiveness. We can’t make up our minds about what to do. The Pharaoh had a tough decision to make and he ended up just postponing his decision. We too are not good at making a clear cut decision and sticking with it. We are so indecisive at times. It takes most of us 15 minutes to decide what we want to eat at a restaurant. And the sad thing is, some of us are like that about all issues. James 1:8 says, “They can’t make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.” We are not sure what to do so we do nothing.
Another reason we procrastinate is Perfectionism. Mike Breaux says, “Some of the greatest procrastinators are closet perfectionists. They figure if I can’t do it with perfection then I just won’t even bother.” But in Ecclesiastes 11:4 it says, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.”
Many of us are waiting for the perfect opportunity to tackle our problems. But there are some problems we face that are so urgent we can’t wait for the perfect time. The Pharaoh may have been a closet perfectionist. Maybe he procrastinated because he felt that things could never be perfect again so why should he do anything anyhow. There are so many frogs, it’s just a mess. Disorder usually makes a perfectionist run from problems.
We also procrastinate because of Fear. We love to play the “what if” game. “What if I try to quit drugs and I get sick or relapse.” “What if I try to open up to my wife and she makes fun of me.” “What if I try to get out of debt and it doesn’t work.” “What if I become a Christian and my friends reject me.” Fear feeds procrastination. Fear forces us to try and predict all the obstacles ahead of us which in turn overwhelms us and makes us gun shy to try anything. We image all the problems we are going to have and so we freeze from doing anything. The plagues that had hit the Pharaoh had certainly made him afraid to make a decision. So he just delayed.
I like Proverbs 26:13 “The lazy person is full of excuses, saying, “I can’t go outside because there might be a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!”” The procrastinator is afraid of what might happen to him.
But, primarily, we procrastinate out of Laziness. Some of us are lazy. It takes hard work, time and discipline to change and if we are honest many of us don’t want to put forth the effort to change. If we quit drinking, we know it means going regularly to an AA meeting.
If we want to improve our marriage, we know it will take going to a counselor and talking through some tough issues. If we want to conquer debt, we know it is going to take thought and planning and monthly evaluations. If we want to become more spiritual, we know it is going to take time to come to church and to pray and to read scripture. If we want to lose weight, we know its going to take hours at the health club. If we want to improve our grades, we know it is going to take studying and long hours at the library. You see, it is hard work to change and many of us are just plain lazy. Proverbs 13:4 says, “Lazy people want much but get little, while the diligent are prospering.”
Pharaoh’s response to Moses may have been shear laziness. Maybe he didn’t want the hassle of releasing the slaves from Egypt. Maybe he knew he was going to have to put together a huge department to clean up frog guts once the plague was over. He was lazy, so he did nothing.
Now those are just a few of the main reasons why we procrastination. Now let’s take a look at some good news.
Finally, Let’s Take A Look At Overcoming Procrastination?
Now we come to the most important part of this message. The important thing is how do we overcome procrastination?
For One, We Need To Develop A Sense Of Urgency About Our Predicament.
It is amazing how nonchalant the Pharaoh was about all those frogs taking over his kingdom. They were threatening his livelihood, his position, his family, his life. Yet, he seemed so unconcerned about it. Ah, get rid of them tomorrow he said.
What amazes me is how so many of us can be so unconcerned about our problems. We treat our sin and our habits so lightly, like there no big deal. It amazes me when people seem so unaffected by their drinking. I have heard people joke about how bad their marriage is. It is no big deal. Procrastination has come. Apathy has set in. Rex Brown, says, “Procrastination has to do with whether we are lazy about the important things in life.”
We must develop a sense of urgency for the important stuff in life before it is too late. Because if we don’t do something today about our problems they will eventually get worse. Ecclesiastes 10:18 says, “A lazy man lets the roof leak, and soon the rafters begin to rot.” In other words, if we are too nonchalant about our problems for too long our lives begin to fall apart.
A few years ago an unemployed cleaning woman in St. Louis Missouri noticed a few bees buzzing around the attic of her home. Since there were only a few, she made no effort to deal with them. Over the summer the bees continued to fly in and out of the attic vent while the woman remained unconcerned, unaware of the growing number of bees.
The whole attic became a hive, and the ceiling of the second-floor bedroom finally caved in under the weight of hundreds of pounds of honey and thousands of angry bees. While the woman escaped serious injury, she was unable to repair the damage of her accumulated neglect. When we make no effort to deal with our problems they just grow. So we need to develop a sense of urgency about life.
Second, We Also Need To Stop Making Excuses.
I wonder what excuses Pharaoh gave to Moses for his delay. Well Moses, today is not a good day to free the Israelites, I have a golf match with the King of Ethopia today. Come back tomorrow. You see, procrastinators are the best at making excuses for not doing things.
Remember when Jesus met a lame man near the pool of Bethesda in John 5. The man had been their for 38 years content to just lounge near the pool and do nothing about his predicament. The first thing he had for Jesus was an excuse, “I have no one to help me into the pool.”
Well in Luke 14 Jesus said that the main thing that keeps people from following Him is their bag of excuses. I have a field to plant Jesus, I just bought 5 oxen. I just got married. Excuses are the favored tool of the procrastinator. You ever heard this one, “I’ll start going to church when things settle down in my life.” But things will never settle down. Or, “I’ll start going to church when I kick this bad habit.”
But you know as well as I do, that chances are, that day will never come. Jesus says to us, “come just as you are!” Proverbs 12:33 says, “The lazy person is full of excuses.” Benjamin Franklin said, “People who are good at making excuses are rarely good at anything else.”
Some of us are the way we are because we have an excuse for everything. An excuse for why we still do drugs. An excuse for why we still lose our temper. An excuse for why we still drink. An excuse for why we don’t make it to church on time. But guess what, excuses are killing us. God doesn’t want to hear excuses, He wants to see change.
And Finally, We Need To Take Advantage Of Today.
We need to stop thinking that tomorrow will be a better day to do the important things in life. Proverbs 21:1 says, “Never boast about tomorrow. You don’t know what will happen between now and then.” Pharaoh undoubtedly thought that tomorrow would present him a better opportunity for changing Egypt’s circumstances. Perhaps he was looking for a window of opportunity in which he could trick Moses and still keep the Hebrew slaves and get rid of the frogs. But he made the mistake that tomorrow would be better. In fact, it wouldn’t, there were more plagues to come. Much worse than a bunch of frogs.
You see, we always think that tomorrow will be a better opportunity than today. But it won’t. We say, “I’ve got all the time in the world to change.” But we are not guaranteed that tomorrow will be any better than today.
James 4:14 says, “How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog, it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.”
So many times we put off today because we automatically assume there will be a tomorrow. We waste opportunities because we think we’ll get another shot later. There’s an old proverb that says, “Never leave till tomorrow which you can do today.”
In his book Being the Best, Denis Waitley writes, “When you stop to think about it, there is no such thing as a future decision. You face only present decisions that will affect what will happen in the future. Procrastinators wait for just the right moment to decide. If you wait for the perfect moment, you become a security seeker who is running in place, going through the motions, and getting deeper in a rut. If I wait for every objection to be overcome, I will attempt nothing. My personal motto is, Stop Stewing and Start Doing!”
Well, the truth is that the best time to get started working on our problems is now. Ephesians 5:16 says “Live like wise men. Make good use of every opportunity.” Today is the only day you have. The only opportunity you might have to change and get right with God and with yourself.
Rick Warren gives what he calls the mindset of a procrastinator.
Phase 1 -- I’ll start early this time.
Phase 2 -- I’ve got to start soon.
Phase 3 -- I should have started sooner.
Phase 4 -- There’s still time to do it.
Phase 5 -- What’s wrong with me?
Phase 6 -- I can’t wait any longer!
Phase 7 -- Just get it done!
Phase 8 -- Next time I’ll start earlier.
Billy Graham the famous evangelist was at a hotel in Seattle in the 1960’s. Asleep, he was awakened with a powerful burden to pray for Marilyn Monroe the actress. The next morning his burden was stronger and he had his assistant call Monroe to set up an appointment. Monroe’s agent made it difficult. She was too busy, she would meet with the Reverend Graham-sometime. “Not now, maybe 2 weeks from now.” 2 weeks were too little too late. She committed suicide in the time in between that call and the meeting.
Some of us don’t have 2 weeks. We need to make some changes now. James 4:17 says, “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” If you know there is something you need to do today, such as give your life to God or seek help for a problem, you need to do it today! There’s an old country song by Billy Dean that says, “I’m gonna hold who needs holding. Mend what’s needs mending. Walk what needs walking. Though it might mean an extra mile. I’m going to pray what needs praying. Say what needs saying. Cause we’re only here for a little while.”
Do what you need to do today, don’t say, “tomorrow,” for tomorrow may never come. Say “NOW!” Let’s Pray! |
