The character flaw of procrastination can effect many areas of my life.
And of course, the results of 'putting things off', usually have negative consequences.
In the end, I always wonder why I have procrastinated, and will I ever learn the lesson that putting things off just isn't beneficial in any way.
From subtle to devastating, the effects always lead me to a place that I have to recover from.
Now in a sense, procrastination is a form of delay.
Along with delay can come another self-centered trait which is rebellion.
This is equally as dangerous as the former, but with the same negative effects.
Another place that I have to recover from.
For me, rebellion played a large part for many years of my life.
As one with a survivor type of mentality, I would always rebel against anyone who try to be helpful to me, as well as rebelling against the norms of society.
Now comes the spiritual process that I finally began to implement in my life after years of banging my head against the wall...
for lack of a better term.
I got to the point where I decided I would no longer delay, or procrastinate, or rebel against anyone or anything.
I was finally through and willing to make some much needed changes.
As I started to cultivate a relationship with God each day, in a very simple way, little by little, I began to experience some positive changes.
And of course, this doesn't happen all at once.
The key to start living this way was practicing discipline in my prayer life.
The amazing thing is that so long as I was willing to make the effort, God would honor that and extend His hand out to me.
A relationship with God is just like any human relationship.
It is a two way street.
Again I want to emphasize that having a loving relationship with God can be so very simple.
Now life is full of ups and downs, twists and turns, good times and not so good times.
I'm sure we can all agree with that statement.
It is when the difficult times come upon me that I really need the grace from God to endure them.
I have found out through my own experience that God is true to His word, and will in fact supply the grace that I need in times of trouble.
But if I have delayed or neglected my relationship with Him, I am heading for more serious trouble.
Again, life happens.
And I have discovered that if I do not delay in cultivating my relationship with Him, which I need to do each day, when life hands me something really hard to bear, I can endure and even benefit from the particular situation.
Especially when it comes to what in my opinion is the greatest hurdle of all, and that is a death of a loved one.
And that is only one of a number of examples that I can give here.
Financial troubles, trouble with spouse or children, inevitable health problems that are sure to come with age, and a host of others are the situations that I really need Gods help with.
I have learned that if I spend time each day with God, it is just like depositing money in the bank.
I make a deposit each day, and when I need to withdraw some for a need that I have, I have a supply 'of grace' available to me.
That is why I must not delay in daily relating to God.
For me, it is a dangerous thing to do.