Have you ever had one of those times in your life when you know that God is trying to get something through your thick skull? Out of the blue, a random topic keeps springing up? Well, I have.

Last week I read Christian speaker Christine Caine’s tweet, “I’ve spent almost 30 years constantly packing and unpacking suitcases. I’ve never enjoyed it. We often have to do things we don’t like in order to get to where we need to be to do the things we do like. Do what you don’t want to do so you can do what you do want to do.”

Later that same day, I went to my accountant’s office. While there, I mentioned that, although I do accounting, I do not like it AT ALL. Debbie replied, “Yes, unfortunately, we all have to do things that we don’t like to do.” I felt a twinge of guilt because I had spent the night before getting caught up and had one issue that was left unresolved.

As I drove back from Greer pondering this theme of having to do things that I do not like, David Jeremiah came on the radio and said, “Whatever God has called you to do, He will furnish you completely with the resources to do it.” By this time, I knew what God was trying to tell me, but I did not really want to hear it.

Here is where I admit that I have spent a lot of my life tweaking perfectionism and putting off procrastination. I touched on this in my first blog earlier this year, “A New Thing”. https://sharonhawkins.net/2016/01/12/a-new-thing

For twenty years, I have owned a business that was break-neck busy and deadline driven. That is how I roll, with deadlines. Somehow it has all gotten done. Now things are changing and the deadlines are not the driving force. I am. Oh, me.

While I am a recovering perfectionist, I am not so much in the procrastinator department. When I have hard projects to accomplish (yes, I admit I like easy), other things often get in the way. Like making it perfect, focusing (one more email to answer, one more idea that I need to get on paper, something important I forgot to do, a call I need to make, a text I need to send, and yes there is the black hole of social media), excuses (taking on too much, technology not cooperating) and the fear of failure (that’s a biggie for me). Stirring this big pot of distraction is the devil. He loves defeating us through our busyness. And he often has defeated me.

Now back to my revelation. Dr. Seuss’ birthday was also last week. That same night I saw photos of people dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2 pinned all over the internet. I was reminded of “Green Eggs and Ham”, my favorite Dr. Seuss book. The character in the book spends a great deal of time and effort avoiding Sam and his awful green eggs and ham; all the while, running into all kinds of horrific trouble. He finally just stops and tries them and finds that he LOVES them. What I realized is that if I will go ahead and eat my green eggs and ham first (the hard projects that I do not like), then I can enjoy dessert all the more (the things I love, like writing and doing ministry, spending time with family and friends and the list goes on and on).

God’s simple but undeniable message to me was that I am still a work in progress and I need to work on putting my “have tos” in front of my “I’d rathers”. With His help, I know I can do this, one choice at a time. Sometimes what it takes to jump start us is an “Aha” moment. I am praying that will work for me.

Last Fall, the Holy Spirit started tugging on my heart about being more transparent with my ministry. And the word that I set as my life theme goal for 2016 is “Relentless”. You might say those were my New Year’s resolutions. So here goes my best efforts at being transparent and relentless.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. Colossians 3:23

Gotta go … I have a “have to” that needs to get done.

Do you struggle with procrastination? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

Dear Lord: Thank you for loving me despite of my weaknesses. Help me as I prioritize to always put You first. I pray for more faith and more of Your courage and strength to help me push through the hard stuff. Knowing that if I keep my focus on You, I can take heart in pressing on because You have already overcome the world. Amen