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Wait Awhile
By Stuart D. Kent
April 25, 2005
“The hopes of good men lead to joy, but wicked people can look forward to nothing” (Proverbs 10:28).
On Monday, November 1st, I was assaulted in a local grocery store. No, it wasn’t Kerry supporters, abuzz with election-eve fervor and caffeine. It was a gaggle of Kroger employees ripping down the Halloween aisle decorations/merchandise and replacing it with—nope, not Thanksgiving—Christmas stuff!
This, in a criminal scenario, would be like a local convenience store robber who walks inside a store and, without the usual duck-and-dive tactics of small-time thugs, lunges straight for the jugular veins of the cashier and demands cash. Why does the Kroger aisle decked out in red and green bother me so badly? It’s because I am afflicted with a disorder that borders on neuroses: procrastination.
I mean, why not wait awhile, at least until Thanksgiving is over and I’ve microwaved and eaten the last shred of turkey with the ominous cranberry stain on it? My motto seems to be: why not put off until tomorrow what I should have done three months ago. That is the very question I recently asked myself about my upcoming Microbiology final.
Learning Microbiology is tough and requires me to learn long, funny-looking Latin words like Staphylococcus Aureus. That’s the microbe that is practically swimming on the carpets, walls, and patients of your local hospital, and on your skin right now! But don’t be alarmed, simply wash your hands and bathe regularly and you’ll be fine.
Anyway, this huge Microbiology final is fast approaching and I’m starting to sweat and worry like a wanted man in a Western movie, where Clint Eastwood is walking down the middle of the street and all you hear is the rhythmic jingle of spurs with each step he takes and the wanted man is hiding around the corner of the last building. The inevitable is going to happen, like my test. I only had one option: pray.
Actually, I began praying about the test a month before the test, becoming fervent the week before the test, and begging for mercy the day before the test. I am wound tight. But then the gentle voice of the Lord whispers and says, “Trust Me.” So I did. Procrastinators love it when we have a deadline, because the hour arrives, and we know that the worrying will finally stop. I drive to the classroom and work hard to answer each question, and 160 questions later, I’m finished.
As a procrastinator, I demonstrate one of the key flaws of this psychological disorder: I’m waiting for the “perfect” to occur, and by waiting until the last minute, I’m expecting it to arrive right on time. I found out this time (and many before) that this is not God’s idea, but mine, and in truth it doesn’t work. I often think that I need to memorize the whole Bible and pray for a week about someone before I actually reach out to that person to win him to the Lord. That doesn’t work, either.
So, I give it my best. I studied ‘til blue in the face, quit worrying, and sat down to a really tough test. I worked mentally hard on each question, even if I had no clue what the answer was. I pushed the END key and my score popped up: passing grade! Instead of feeling relief, I felt like a giant hand was supporting me. I believe the Lord expects my best effort, and then blesses me by filling in the gaps.
Maybe I’ll apply this concept to more areas of my life and expect great results like the grade on my test. Just don’t expect me to get in the Christmas mood until the end of December. And a trip to the local mall is not going to happen anytime soon.
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© 2005, Stuart D. Kent
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Stuart D. Kent moved this summer to a different house in the same city. He is studying to become an RN online. He spends his days off letting his two new kittens in, then out of the back door.