Have you ever been so behind on something that it seems truly impossible to catch up? And it’s like you’re in a bottomless pit of stress and self-shaming, wondering why you didn’t just do what you were supposed to in the first place? Maybe there are some people who have never put themselves in this position, but I am all too familiar with the consequences of procrastination.
I was not the biggest fan of high school, and I can’t even tell you how many times I ended up in the bottomless procrastination pit. I barely graduated, finishing my last online class at the very last minute, on the very last day. And I did it in the car, driving home from a festival with my friends. (Just to give you one example, of many, of how I was, and how well I know this feeling.) It’s kind of funny now, but I think it’s one of the worst feelings ever. Here’s how Jesus showed me his perfect love and grace through this awful feeling.
About a month ago, I had three dreams that were basically the same. I am sitting in class, so behind on schoolwork, with that insane stress being all I can think about. I’m trying to reason in my head how I can make up this work, and I realize it’s just not physically possible. I stop showing up at all, because I’m so behind there’s just no way I can do it. The dream just ends at some point in the stress, and being about two years out of high school now, it’s not a fun feeling to get thrown back to. But other than that, I didn’t think much of those dreams.
The next day, Jesus was speaking to me about the true simplicity of the gospel, and showing me how I can make it so much more complicated than it is. Then, he hit me with the dream interpretation. Jesus did my school work. Everything I was behind on, He finished. And it’s as simple as that. I’m free to live my life, and grow from my past mistakes, with no stress or weight on my shoulders from those mistakes. For some reason, in our human minds, that can be so hard to understand. Truly, no matter how behind we were, all the work is just done, if we’ve given it to Jesus. Then, we don’t ever have to worry about it again. And even better, in this new relationship with him, with his help, we will never fall behind like that again. We can go forward.
God is so good, and I’m so thankful for this understanding of just how good he is. This is why we need Jesus, and he is the only thing that truly matters. He is the only one who can set us free from from that weight of everything we’ve missed. He did the work, and all we have to do is accept that gift. Wow. We have a good God.
“For the Messiah did not enter into the earthly tabernacle made by men, which was but an echo of the true sanctuary, but he entered into heaven itself to appear before the face of God in our place.” Hebrews 9:24
”Lord, you will establish peace for us, for you have also done all our work for us.” Isaiah 26:12
