After returning home three days ago from a two and a half week trip, I am sorry to say that my suitcase is still sitting in the middle of the floor in my bedroom. Some of my clothes are still in it. Needless to say, my bedroom is kind of messy. I find this happens quite often when I return from a trip. For a few days I will dance around the mess, thinking I should get the clothes back in the drawers where they belong. Eventually, sufficient motivation will arise so that I actually act on it.
I think this kind of strange procrastination is fairly common. We sit there and delay the inevitable. We hear the train coming, rolling around the bend, but we look in a different direction until the whistle blows. Then life becomes a series of near misses, dodging one train after another when we hear the whistle blow.
When he was in the garden of Gethsemane (as described in Mark 14:32), it seems like Jesus was standing in wait for the inevitable. He knew exactly what events would transpire in the coming hours, yet he chose to wait. It does not appear that he was denying that it was going to happen, his prayers (Mark 14:35) suggest that he was very anxious about it. Ultimately, Jesus knew he was in the hands of his father.
So may be there is a good side to procrastination. May be having an unsettled room for a while helped me appreciate it now that it is settled. Some researchers think that even when we are not consciously working out our problems, our brains tend to develop solutions passively. Therefore, waiting might result in having an “aha” moment that allows us to deal with the issue more effectively. In addition, being able to wait might also be a sign of faith that we can handle the situation when it arises.
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