Welcome to the Determined to Dance podcast with your host, Jennifer Hallmark.

Today’s episode, “Our Struggle with Procrastination” focuses on one of the deadliest negative actions when it comes to our dance with God.

Are you ready? The world would have us march to its chaotic beat but God invites us to dance in His will and His way. Let’s take a moment to be energized, refreshed, and motivated to face the day, one spin and twirl at a time.

Show Notes: Our Struggle with Procrastination

A few days ago, I needed to work on the upcoming episodes of my podcast. I really did. But it’s late spring and there’s so much yard work to do, not counting getting our above-the-ground pool ready for the grandkids, and let’s not even discuss spring cleaning. The deck needs some fresh paint and…

All of a sudden I’m in a major procrastination mode. I mean, who wants to sit inside and work when beautiful weather is calling? But there is a time and place for everything. So, here I am. Perched at my desk, slogging my way through an ever-growing pile of work.

Procrastination. The Merriam-Webster dictionary’s definition is to put off intentionally and habitually. Also, to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done. Ugh. Is that what I’m doing? I think so. Before I know it, I’ve stopped dancing and moved onto my own path, far from God.

I noticed one word that’s mentioned twice. Intentionally. Now, I’ve been known to forget an appointment (if not written in my trusty Google calendar) or forget a birthday, or to schedule a blog post. But we’re not talking forgetful here. And we’re not discussing survival mode-that time after tragedy or crisis where you can only accomplish the bare minimum of everyday life.

No, intentional is on purpose. Yard work is calling my name, not because it’s my favorite pastime but to avoid putting myself in this chair and putting together a podcast. Why?

I’ve thought of seven reasons while I put off doing something and over the next weeks, we’ll look at each reason in detail.

To avoid conflict.
Because something is difficult or seems difficult.
I might fail.
I might succeed.
I’m overly busy.
Loss of focus/low priority.
Perfectionism

I’m sure there are many more but these are my top seven. I studied the list and noticed they had one thing in common: Fear. Some more than others but they all deal with some type of fear or dread or anxiety. And that brings us to an age-old struggle:

Fear versus faith. What’s the Bible say? A lot. I love what Jeremiah tells us in the 17th chapter, seventh and eighth verses.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.” NKJV

We put our trust AND hope in the Lord. You’ll note it doesn’t say that everything will be fine and perfect and lovely. Instead, we read “when heat comes” and “year of drought.”

Wow. I wish He’d left those phrases out. But if He had, we wouldn’t need faith. And dancing and faith go hand in hand. Let’s pray about it:

Father God, we come before you today and admit we have fears and worries and tend to be anxious. We put off dancing with You and pursue lesser things. You understand and woo us back to the dance floor with liberal doses of love, grace, and mercy. We are so thankful that You are extravagant and kind and good. Help us learn that everything has a time and give us wisdom as we follow You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Next week, we’ll discuss procrastination and conflict. Yikes. I think I might need to trim the hedges again…

Until then. Stay determined to dance.
Future topics include:
Procrastination.

Fear vs. Faith

Avoiding Conflict

What will people think?

Continue to dance.