In this insightful episode, we delve into the biblical narrative of Felix’s encounter with the apostle Paul as a backdrop for discussing procrastination. We examine the spiritual and personal consequences of putting off important decisions and tasks. Learn about overcoming self-doubt, facing uncomfortable truths, and taking action against the subtle chains of procrastination as we unfold the keys to moving forward in faith instead of fear.
Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, December 10th. Ignoring responsibilities can become a trap that robs us of precious God-given opportunities. Stay with us and learn the keys to putting off procrastination.
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Why do you keep putting off that very crucial decision in your life? And why is it you and I don’t write the letters we ought to write, don’t make the phone calls we should make, Don’t make those decisions. Don’t get your homework in on time. Don’t do the shopping you ought to do. What is it about us that keeps us putting things off, delaying them, and postponing them? Well, you and I call it procrastination. And it is a problem in a lot of people’s lives. And some people think, well, you know, that’s just the way I am. But I want us to think according to God’s Word and according to who we are as believers. Is this not true that procrastination is a form of bondage in a person’s life that is more costly than most of us are willing to admit? So I want you to turn, if you will, to the book of Acts chapter 24 and the title of this message is Putting Off Procrastination. putting off procrastination. And if you will turn to the 24th chapter, and let me give you a little background on this passage. The apostle Paul has been threatened by the Jews. In fact, they plotted to kill him. And so he was rescued and as a result taken to Caesarea. And before Felix, he is going to make his plea for his innocence. And I want us to begin reading in verse 24 of Acts 24. But some days later, Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife, who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. And as he was discussing righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, Go away for the present, and when I find time, I will summon you. At the same time, too, he was hoping that money would be given him by Paul. Therefore, he also used to send for him quite often and converse with him. But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Portius Festus, and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul imprisoned. Now, this passage of Scripture is a good setting for what procrastination is all about. And what I want us to look at is what the basic problem is in the whole matter of procrastination because many people have to deal with this problem in their life. Now look at it if you will. The scripture says that Felix, by the way, who was characterized by a man who was full of lust and greed and had a great desire for power. So here he is talking with Paul. Listen to what the Scripture says. It said he sent for the Apostle Paul, and he heard Paul speak about what? Verse 24. Heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. That is, the Apostle Paul was giving to Felix the plan of salvation, telling him how to be saved, and that he needed to place his trust in Jesus Christ and to repent of his sin. Now, Paul didn’t mince any words, and just because he doesn’t happen to say it in this passage, Paul was giving him the truth. Look, if you will, in chapter 26. And here again, Paul is defending himself and he’s before Agrippa now. And notice, if you will, in verse 20, he says, “…but I kept on declaring both to those of Damascus first and also Jerusalem, and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.” And Paul had a boldness about him. He didn’t mind telling the truth. Now listen to what he’s saying to Felix. And he was discussing three things. Righteousness, self-control, and judgment to come. And so what happens to Felix? The Bible says Felix became frightened. What happened? He got real uncomfortable. He got so uncomfortable with what Paul was talking about, he said, you go your way and we’ll talk again. And the Scripture says that often Felix would call for the Apostle Paul. One of his motivations was that maybe he would get some money in order to free Paul. But you see, he kept coming back, listening to the Apostle Paul tell him the necessity of repenting of his sins and getting right with God. Felix knew the truth. And my friend, the Apostle Paul never lost an opportunity to share the truth in a forceful fashion. He wasn’t afraid of kings or governors, as Felix was, a Roman procurator of Judea. He wasn’t afraid of anybody. He told them the truth. And so, Felix would keep calling him and he would keep sharing the truth and he would keep sending him away. And the problem is that even though he knew the truth, he kept putting Paul off. Well, one of these days, you know, I’m listening and Paul had given him the salvation plan. What was the problem? When the Apostle Paul started talking about his need of the righteousness of Christ through the shed blood of Jesus, when he started talking about The judgment, as he says, the judgment to come. And when he started talking about self-control, here’s a man who was known for his cruelty, who was known for his lust, known for his lack of self-control. What happened? He got frightened. He said, you know, I can’t handle much more of this. I’ve got to take a break. Not now, Paul, later. And so what happens? He kept putting him off. And I’m sure Paul said to him, Felix, you need to place your trust in Jesus Christ as a Roman governor now. You need to place your trust in him right now. Later, Paul, we’ll talk again. So he kept calling and kept pushing him away. There’s a second reason I believe that he kept treating him the same way is, can you imagine, Felix, what he was thinking? How can I believe in this Christ whom Paul is talking about and keep my position? What are other people going to say? Besides that, how could I ever live this kind of life? This man’s talking about righteousness and self-control. And here’s my third wife and the whole lifestyle of a Roman procurator and a Roman governor and all the rest. Until finally, he just kept putting him off until Nero finally recalled Felix. That’s one thing to look at it in the Scripture and say, well, that’s what happened to him. But let’s look at ourselves. Let’s ask ourselves the question. What are the consequences of those tasks that are undone? When we think about the consequences… of procrastination, many very important tasks get left undone. Our own potential we never reach because we fear new challenges oftentimes. We fear those things that God would call us to do and require of us because we’re not comfortable in doing them and facing them. opportunities that God sends our way, and God sends some opportunities only one time. Only one time does He send them our way. And because we fear what it requires of us, we fear doing the thing that God wants us to do, we put it off, and the opportunity passes right by. How many blessings the people of God miss because they are not willing to deal with themselves, dealing with the whole issue of procrastination. But let’s bring it over into the spiritual realm. When you and I procrastinate, we disobey God. God says, here’s what I want you to do. And you say, Lord, I’m going to. That’s not what He said. Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to do this right now. You’re going to go to this person right now. Give this, do that, whatever it might be. We procrastinate. We disobey God. Secondly, we deprive God of the vessels through whom He wants to accomplish certain tasks. And so we say, Lord, you know, I just, I can’t do that now. We deprive Him. I believe we hinder God’s whole program by procrastination. I intend to one of these days. I’m going to get around to it, but we don’t. And we keep delaying what God is requiring of us. I think we become sometimes a stumbling block to other people. When they see us procrastinating, they see us putting it off. And therefore, in their minds, it must not be very important when they see us delaying these decisions. There’s a sense of guilt. When you know that God has required you to do something and you don’t do it and you keep putting it off, if you’re a Christian, you’re going to feel guilty. We increase our own stress level by saying, well, one of these days I’m going to and we keep putting off a decision that God wants us to make. Why is it we put these decisions off? Self-doubt, discomfort dodging. We don’t want to face ourselves, look at ourselves, admit that we feel inadequate, admit that we don’t like the feelings that go along with it. And instead of facing up to that, we just keep on doing the same old thing. And so what happens? Our spiritual growth just sort of winds down. And we wonder why God doesn’t use us and why we don’t have the joy of the Lord and why God isn’t doing something fantastic in our life and why we don’t have the peace of God prevailing in our life. Procrastination over what God has required of us is an act of disobedience, rebellion, and it’s an action of independence from God. No matter what we tell Him the reason is. And I want to ask you the question, are you willing to deal with yourself? Why don’t you confess your sins, repent of your sins, turn from your sin, turn to God and surrender your life to Him? Because you don’t like the feelings that go along with dealing with yourself. You don’t have to worry about being adequate. Not a single one of us is adequate. We all confess our inadequacy. It is Christ living on the inside of us who makes us adequate. Now, how do we deal with all this? And that’s the basic question. It’s simple, but this is the way it happens. First of all, you must be willing to admit, I have a problem with procrastination. Delaying, postponing, putting off till tomorrow those things that I am uncomfortable with today. First of all, I have to admit I have the problem. Secondly, I need to identify those areas in which I procrastinate. Because I don’t procrastinate in every area, just some areas. What areas here are there that I do procrastinate? identify the feelings that go along with it. So what I want to ask you to do is think for just a moment about what area in which you procrastinate and then think about now, what do I feel when I begin to think about this particular task and I keep putting it off? What am I feeling? You see, no one else can tell you what you feel, but you need to identify what your feelings are. Why do I feel this way? And the truth is you’re not going to have a hard time at all coming up with it. God’s going to show you what that is. Those feelings are very closely associated with that area of procrastination. So you identify what those feelings are. All right. What is the next thing? Here’s what you do. Let’s put this in the spiritual realm for just a moment. You tell God, Lord, I confess to you that I have a problem with procrastination in this area. I choose by faith to repent. of this form of bondage, spiritual bondage in my life that’s keeping me from being the kind of person you want me to be, fulfilling your goals and your purposes and your plans, living by your schedule, living in your will, walking in your spirit. You’re not going to walk in the Spirit of God, fulfill the will of God, the purpose of God, the plan of God. As a procrastinator, you’re not going to do it. And so there needs to be genuine repentance, and repentance means I am willing to confess the reality of something in my life that should not be there, and purpose in my heart right then and there to turn away from that to God, and to do what? Choose by an act of faith. That is, I make a commitment to deal with it right there. Now, Let’s say, for example, that we have identified what it is. We know what our feelings are. We’ve confessed it to God. We have repented of it. Now, what step do I go from there in order to gain the victory? I recall who I am as a child of God. I am a child of the living God. Christ Jesus is living on the inside of me. The Holy Spirit is living within me. The power of the Spirit of God is within me. So I recall who I am. The second thing I do is to reaffirm who He says He is in me. And what is that? He says He is my Savior, He is my Lord, and He is my very life that is living on the inside of me is the person of Jesus Christ. Now friend, that has a lot to do and is part of the answer to my feelings of inadequacy. That I may not be able to do this right. And these feelings I have of anxiety. Who am I? I’m a child of the living God. And God has chosen to live within me as my Savior, my Lord, and my very life. Which means… That He, because of His presence within me, has made me sufficient to face every single circumstance in life and to meet every single need I have. That is the truth of God about every single believer. Now because that is the truth, I am the function in my life on the basis of that truth. And the truth of who I am in Him and who He is in me. He is my Savior, my Lord, my life. That means He has made me sufficient to meet every single need. that He is my sufficiency for every need that I face. The Bible says I am complete in Him. No matter what I face, God says I am adequate to do it. My feelings are no longer going to dominate my life. What’s going to dominate my life is the truth of what God says. When you were challenged the first time, Or when you gave your life to Christ, you were challenged to confess and repent of your sins and turn your life over to Jesus Christ. You had all these kind of feelings of inadequacy and suppose I failed, suppose I sinned again, suppose I don’t know the right thing, suppose I don’t pray right. But what happened? You made a choice to lay your feelings down and you chose by faith to believe the witness of Scripture and you asked the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins. You asked Him to come into your life. You told Him you were turning your life over to Him and you acted on the basis of pure, simple, childlike faith and God saved you in that moment. That’s what the whole message of Scripture is. And as Paul says in Colossians, just as you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ to save you, trust Him too also for each day’s problems. That is, I am to live a life of faith facing every circumstance of life, no matter what comes along, the feeling of being inadequate and the feeling that I may say the wrong thing or the feelings of of pressure and the feelings of fear of failure, all of these things, I choose right then and there to live by my feelings or live by faith. If I live by faith, procrastination’s over with. If I keep yielding to my feelings, I’m going to continue to be a procrastinator. Here’s where it all boils down to. Do you believe who God says you are? And do you believe what He says is true about you? Or do you believe what the devil keeps telling you? You can’t do that. I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t get involved in that. You don’t feel, you’re not adequate. What are you going to feel about these things? You know what we do? We put our focus rather than on the living Christ and all of His resurrection supernatural power that is available to me. We start looking at, what do we do? we become preoccupied with self-doubt, preoccupied with inadequacies, preoccupied with the reasons we can’t, and what happens emotionally and spiritually, our bondage absolutely defeats us. The key is, I remember who God says I am. I recall who He says He is within me. Begin to respond to life circumstances on the basis of those things and I choose by an act of my will to respond by faith Not by my feelings. What are these feelings? You have discomfort dodging has to do with feelings self-doubt has to do with my feelings about myself that I’m inadequate I I’m just not as capable as other people and I may fail and I don’t want to fail I don’t want to feel rejected. I don’t want to be rejected by the people and so what happens I We just keep on procrastinating. So you make a choice. You can get over it right now if you want to. By making a commitment. Lord Jesus, from this moment on, I choose to respond to the challenges of my life by faith. Based on who you are in me, who I am in you, and I am absolutely adequate to face anything that life throws at me because the same Apostle Paul who said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I have the same living supernatural Holy Spirit abiding within me forever. free within me, liberated within me that the Apostle Paul had, and therefore I know that I can do this. I can get it done on time, and I choose to do it. I choose to lay down my feelings. I choose to put off procrastination, and I choose to walk by faith. My friends, you can lay it down right here, but you’ll do it only if you choose to start believing what is true about you and stop believing the lie that you can’t, that you’re inadequate, all these feelings. Now you say, is it really all that simple? I challenge you to try it. Now remember, what you must do is identify the feelings that go along with it. So When somebody challenges you, you say, well, I’m going to. You say, you already know what you’re procrastinating about, so I don’t have to give you any new evidence. You already know that. What I want you to do is identify the feelings, and the next time the challenge comes, think about it. Now, here’s the way I feel when I’m faced with this. Lord Jesus, I choose to live by faith. I choose to operate on the basis of what you say and who you say I am and who you are in me, and I thank you. I attack. this problem. You know what’s going to happen? You’re going to get the victory one time and you’re going to think, dear Lord, why has it taken me so long to deal with this?
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Thank you for listening to today’s podcast titled Putting Off Procrastination. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
In this insightful episode, we delve into the biblical narrative of Felix’s encounter with the apostle Paul as a backdrop for discussing procrastination. We examine the spiritual and personal consequences of putting off important decisions and tasks. Learn about overcoming self-doubt, facing uncomfortable truths, and taking action against the subtle chains of procrastination as we unfold the keys to moving forward in faith instead of fear.
