As my wife and I are in the process of moving, the following definition of 'moving' occurred to me:
"Getting your house exactly the way you have always wanted, so that the next owners can live the way you have always wanted."
What a crazy process this has been - painting, fixing cracked bricks, landscaping changes, weeding the garden, dejunking the house - and worst of all - keeping the house picked up each day! I would not wish this on my worst enemy.
For years we struggled whether to move as a result of allergy conditions causing a family member to feel sick. We do not know if moving would solve the problem, or if it would follow us. Would we be able to sell the house? Would the next owners have the same reactions? What house do we buy? If this is a spiritual attack, will the devil not notice that we have moved?? "Now where did the Smith's go? Hmm, are they hiding behind that hedge of protection? Rats - I have lost another opportunity."
As I look back on this process, I have concluded our struggle is good old-fashioned procrastination. But, why do we procrastinate? Because we do not know what the best course of action is! As a logical thinker, there is always a right and wrong choice, and I need to find the right choice before I can proceed. When it came to our decision to move, we did not have peace with either option, so we did nothing. At a recent Crown Financial Ministries conference, the speaker used Hebrews 12:1 to help us discern how best to steward our lives:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.."
When I heard the words, "throw off everything that hinders us" I felt God telling me that the house was what was hindering us, and to sell it. I called Julie that night and said we are moving. With that decision made, we have to decide where to move. Do we get a house that can handle two teenagers, or a house that works well for empty-nesters? What city do we live in? Do we get closer to work, church, school, or the gym? Three bedrooms or five? Yard or no yard? Serenity now! As I was driving away from a meeting with our realtor, Hebrews 12:1 came to me again:
"...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
So again, I called Julie and said we need to buy the house that best helps us run the race that God has for us to run. Whatever house that is, is the house that we need to buy - one with dedicated space for each of us so we can each run our race.
We procrastinate because we try to make decisions using the process that makes the world 'turn'. When, in fact, we need to use the decision process that makes God 'turn'. For us, that is throwing off all that was hindering us from running the race that God marked out for us. What about you? What is hindering you from running the race God has for you? Are you aware of what that race is? Are you trusting that if you remove the hindrances in your life, that God will help you finish His race? How are you making your decisions?
Even after we made the decision to move, we still worried about selling our house, and finding the best house for us. Trusting that God wants us to move, we know there will be a buyer for our house, and a house for us to buy. As of this writing, we are about to close on 'the' house - the three-bedroom empty-nester (sorry kids). We are also trusting He will sell our house after we make the necessary renovations that best enable us to run our race!
Deo Gratias!