Meaningless

During his sermon yesterday at church, our pastor referenced a scripture from the book of Ecclesiastes. I looked it up so I could follow along, but then a verse on the opposite page caught my eye. It literally seemed to jump right out at me!

    "Much dreaming and many words are meaningless..." ~Ecclesiastes 5:7

Whoa. Those words have so penetrated my heart, I haven't been able to stop thinking about them since discovering them God first led me to them yesterday.

See, procrastination is my middle name. I'm great at dreaming. I can come up with all kinds of plans or ideas, but I'm not so much on the follow through. I'm also great at talking. For example, it thrills me when I sense God actually speak something to me. So in my excitement, I have often told others about major things God has laid on my heart--before I should have. Because even though the talking part comes easy to me, the following-through-in-obedience part seems a lot more difficult. I'm sure that's partly due to some level of fear or low self esteem. Part of it is just flat out laziness--there's no need to sugarcoat it! But whatever the reason, the bottom line is that it dishonors God.

I can tell everyone all day long what great things God has planned for me, but if I am just sitting and dreaming and talking about it, but DOING NOTHING...well, what kind of a testimony is that?

It's MEANINGLESS. Just like the verse says! And I am thankful that God reminded me of this. So now the question is...what will I do about it?

I have to take ACTION. I have to confess this "character flaw" to God as SIN and ask for His help to overcome it. Because it is a big deal. In fact, the bible calls procrastination a sin. And I believe the first step in overcoming it is to really view it the way God does instead of making excuses for it.

  "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." ~James 4:17

That's pretty clear, huh? Talk about NOT sugarcoating!

After seeing it the way God sees it and confessing it as sin, I am going to ask God every single day to help me get better at following through with things...beginning with obedience in the little things I like to put off. Then, after conquering those "little" things with God's help, I can tackle the bigger things. I can and I will. After all,

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." ~Philippians 4:13

 

Comments

[Trish Taylor]

Amy ... I missed the sermon doing FPU orientation (must listen to podcast) BUT what you said/wrote describes me! I am a great visionary/dreamer but awful at following through to completion. .... Bible Study homework, projects, chores, commitments ... need I say more!
I too MUST become obedient to His will and stop procrastinating/avoiding the work I am called to do.
Amem sista!!!

[Sandra Wald]

Amy, this is a great post. I think it is exciting the way God reveals just what we need in his word. I posted about dreaming today too. God has been telling me that I need to dream big dreams and then (as you say) take some action. I am working on this, but I am excited about the action part. Thanks for sharing the verses and giving me a new way of thinking about dreams and putting them into action.

[Sandra Wald]

I have tagged you in a fun meme at wholesometalk.com, if you would like to play.

[~Grace & Peace]

Amy,
I came here to thank you for your encouraging comment. But I didn't realize I would find a kindred spirit! (Hi, I'm a procrastinator, too! Likewise a great starter, not so much a finisher. Sigh...)

This is a great post - I have been struggling with this as well. It does not help that I'm a perfectionist, too. But I have to keep reminding myself that God does not demand perfection, He wants obedience.

{I just read the comment above from Trish. Your church does FPU? That's great! I love Dave Ramsey. He's the reason we got out of credit card debt last year.}