JUNE 28, 2024

   “Lack of confidence, sometimes alternating with unrealistic dreams of heroic success, often leads to procrastination, and many studies suggest that procrastinators are self-handicappers: rather than risk failure, they prefer to create conditions that make success impossible, a reflex that of course creates a vicious cycle.” 

― James Surowiecki

JOB 13-15

1“Mortals, born of woman,

are of few days and full of trouble.

2They spring up like flowers and wither away;

like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.(14:1-2)

ACTS 8:26-40

26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian^a eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

JOURNAL 

In Job 14:1–2, we hear the aching honesty of a man crushed by life: “Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble. They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.” Job isn’t being dramatic, he’s being real. Life is short. Life is hard. And sometimes, as Job experiences, even the righteous are brought low.

What makes his pain sharper is the misunderstanding of his friends. They’ve reduced God to a vending machine: sin equals suffering, righteousness equals reward. But Job’s story dismantles that formula. He’s not suffering because he did something wrong, he’s suffering precisely because he is living rightly. And that confuses the religious mind that always demands visible reward for invisible faith.

It’s easy, then, to fall into despair or, perhaps even more commonly—procrastination. Not just putting off tasks, but putting off purpose. As James Surowiecki notes, procrastinators often suffer from a mix of low confidence and unrealistically heroic fantasies. That’s me sometimes. I wait. I hesitate. I want the big, bold, cinematic moment of calling without the risk of actually stepping onto the battlefield. I fear failing, so I stall. And in that stall, purpose fades.

But contrast that with Philip in Acts 8:26–40. There’s no clarity, no map, no guarantee, just a simple command: “Go south to the road...the desert road.” And Philip goes. No hesitation. No excuse. Because obedience isn’t about certainty, it’s about trust.

And in that act of faithful obedience, Philip is led to one man, the Ethiopian eunuch, whose heart is ready. One quiet moment of obedience becomes a world-changing encounter. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asks. “How can I,” the eunuch replies, “unless someone explains it to me?” What if Philip had procrastinated? What if he waited until conditions were perfect?

Obedience rarely feels heroic in the moment. It often feels like desert roads, interruptions, and awkward conversations. But it is there, right there, that God moves.

So what is my path forward? Not one paved by formulas or outcomes. Not one dictated by success or suffering. My calling is clear: to live in daily obedience to the Spirit of God, just as Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:9–13. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Not my comfort. Not my timeline. His will. His kingdom. His name hallowed through my simple, faithful, daily yes.

There will be days where I feel like Job, confused, discouraged, watching life wither like a flower. But there are also days where I can choose the way of Philip, quietly stepping onto a desert road, trusting that God will meet me there. I don’t have to be heroic, I just have to be obedient. And in that obedience, joy will find me. Not because the journey is easy, but because God is in it.

9“This, then, is how you should pray:

“ ‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

11Give us today our daily bread.

12And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13And lead us not into temptation,^a

but deliver us from the evil one.^b ’

MATTHEW 6:9-13