Have you ever noticed that when you have something you have to do, or are supposed to do, there are other things that you really want to do instead?

The desire to do that other thing is strong then, but when you have free time to do it, you don’t feel the same desire.

There is a project I have been wanting to get to for a number of weeks now. It’s on my mind from time to time. It involves re-familiarizing myself with a database program and trying to add some new features to it.

I want to get to it but there are other things I feel I have to do first. So it’s been shelved. I keep looking for an opportunity to work on the program, but I haven’t found one for the better part of this month.

I’ve been very busy, but still there have been occasions when I have been free to spend a few minutes or hours on it. The thing is, I haven’t spend time on it, opting to spend that free time on something else.

But when I have to do a task I don’t particularly want to do, or when I’m working on some kind of deadline, that’s when the urge to work on this database project really comes on strong.

It’s that old, “If you can’t have it, you want it more” feeling. It’s the grown-up version of the childhood, “I want what you’ve got”.

You know the story:  a child has his toys strewn around his room when another child comes in to play. The first child is happily playing with one of his toys, but when the second child picks up a different toy, the first child all of a sudden wants to play with THAT toy … and a tug of war begins!

As an adult, I don’t have a tug of war with another person. I just have a tug of war with my own emotions. I know I need to meet my deadline, but I feel cheated that I can’t work on the project that’s been on the shelf for a few weeks now.

I feel frustrated that I can’t do what I want to do. Instead, I’m forced to do what I’m pressured to do. I feel it’s unfair that my time and energy is demanded by one thing when I would rather spend my time and energy on something else.

I feel like, “Poor me, having to do something I DON’T want to do, and never getting to do what I WANT to do.”

Temptation to not be disciplined is strong. My brain screams out, “Just work on your project! You want to; you deserve to; just do it!”

So I debate the pros and cons of not sticking with the work I need to get done. Then I see that there’s not an isolated outcome, but that my decision now to not do my work will cause a series of outcomes that will make things worse in the long run.

In the end, I get down to work . . . I’ll get to that database sometime.

Here’s the thing: When you have something to do for God, whether it’s serving, spending time with Him, attending, you can get the urge to do something else – maybe something really worthwhile. Think past the immediate feelings and temptation to the long-range outcomes if you don’t stick with God. Let the weight of those outcomes convince you to stay the course.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What project do you keep putting off because of other commitments? Leave your comment below