Devil or Choice?
I know first hand that spiritual attacks are a real thing. However, sometimes it is so easy to look at something in your life and immediately blame the Devil. We need to be careful with this because we can’t just use the enemy as a scape goat. Take a hard and honest look at your life-I bet you can identify aspects that you don’t like. Were the aspects caused by the Devil or through your own actions? God can do all things but he didn’t give us the Bible if he didn’t expect us to pull our weight in regards to our lives. So many of us become lazy and start making excuses in our lives. This laziness can make us slip further and further away from God.
When it comes down to it, we all have the ability to make choices. Think of the most spirit filled-God loving person you can think of. Now think of how much time they have in a day, is it the same amount of time as you? Of course it is. They have 24 hours per day just like you. The difference, however, is they fill their day with decisions that are aligned with their relationship with God. Of course no one is perfect no one only has amazing days. However, the type of decision they make are probably shaped in a different way than yours. Before I continue, get all the excuses out of your head. “Well I’m busier at work than they are.” “I don’t have time with the kids.” I know…we all have reasons, but se them aside for right now.
Now look at yourself. Don’t put yourself down and don’t put judgement or condemnation on yourself. Just look at yourself in black and white and identify what parts of your life you are being lazy in. It could be something simple like watching TV when you should be spending time in God’s word or something more serious like giving into temptation with drugs or porn when you know that you should be spending time with the ones you love and healing relationships.
It can be easy to take the road of “least resistance” in the moment but man does it make the road ahead so much more difficult.
Laziness = Habit
Laziness can seep into your life very slowly and become a habit. This is dangerous because being lazy can cause a snowball effect in other aspects of your life that bring you away from God. Take a look at Proverbs 6:6-11 with me:
“Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and be wise! Even though they have no prince, governor, or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? I want you to learn the lesson. A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--and poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber. "
Proverbs 6 6-11
This verse makes me laugh a little bit because I love when the Bible is a little snarky and calls us out. In a lot of versions the word “lazybones” is “sluggard” but it has the same meaning. In this example, it talks about ants gathering food in the summer to prepare for winter. Are there aspects in your life that would be easier if you had just prepared for them?
For example, I become stressed when the house is a mess due to not tidying up a little bit each day. I then have to spend an entire weekend cleaning it. Another personal example is when I fall out of the habit of reading the bible every day and then down the road there are aspects of my life that have completely spiraled and takes a lot of time in God’s word to get me back to where I want to be.
Identify what aspects of life you aren’t content and start getting in the habit of doing them instead of putting them on the backburner…aka-being lazy.
“I’m not being lazy, I’m just….oh wait that’s an excuse.”
Laziness and making excuses go hand in hand. It is easy to look at something that will be beneficial to your life and focus on the potential downsides instead of the positives. Fear of failure or fear of change…or really fear of anything can cause this. But when we make those excuses in our mind they become justifications for taking an easier approach like: “I’ll rest now and get to it later because then I’ll be able to focus on it more.” How often do you actually get back to it? I know that is a justification that I struggle with extremely. Take a look at Proverbs 26:13-16.
"The lazy person is full of excuses, saying, “ I can’t go outside because there might be a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there! As a door turns back and forth on its hinges, so the lazy person turns over in bed. Some people are so lazy that they won’t lift a finger to feed themselves. Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors." Proverbs 26:13-16.
I love this verse because it’s saying that yes, there very well may be a lion outside. However, if your reason for going outside is aligned with God’s will, you should not let that fear stop you. You consider the decision to not go outside as something extremely wise but that’s not true. The decision to not go outside is fear and the desire to avoid something difficult. No matter what we do, life is challenging and it is so easy to let that lion prevent you from achieving your goals and not follow God’s will for your life.
Keeping Laziness and Resting Separate
Banksy, a graffiti artist, has been attributed the following quote: “When you are tired learn to rest, not quit.” I think it is a very important sentiment to learn. However, we do need to be careful because it is easy to say that you are resting when in actuality, you are giving in to laziness. You need to take care of yourself and give yourself rest when you need rest. However, do not use it as an excuse. The Bible actually gives us a lot of information about rest and for this example, we’re looking at Matthew 11: 28-30.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11: 28 - 30
We are told that we need to turn to God when we are tired. It could be through prayer, through reading his word, or even just thinking of all that God has done in your life. I swear when I do this, it feels like I drank a cup of coffee. The reason for that is I actually get hope and the feeling of joy because that is what God is. I have a feeling it will have a similar effect on you.
The Bible says that we “can do all this through Him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13) and it is so true. Well, it is true as long as we don’t let ourselves get in the way. We need to be aware that God gave us free will. Just because you’ve accepted Jesus into your life, it doesn’t mean that your life can be on autopilot now. Just like how you came to God, you can also drift away through your decisions in everyday life. God wants us to have joy, stop acting like you don’t want the same thing!
