And They Tarried

Judges 19:8
“And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel’s father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.”

The verse above is the result of a tragic decision of a young woman leaving to go live her life the way that she wanted to live. Her husband loved her so much that he was willing to forgive her even though she had played the harlot.

However, the truth I want you to get is that when this man decided to take his wife home, he tarried for several days, and on the day he left, he “tarried until afternoon.” The result of tarrying led to this man’s wife being abducted and abused by evil men, which resulted in a civil war breaking out between the tribe of Benjamin and Israel. Sixty-five thousand, one hundred thirty men lost their lives because of this war. None of this would have happened had this man left when he originally intended to leave.

My friend, Putting things off for a better time always makes things worse. The best time to get things done is now. You will never know the impact that your decision to tarry on things that should be immediately cared for will have on your future and on the future of others. The consequences of procrastination can never be measured because we don’t see the whole picture of what and who your procrastination influences. Let me point out several damaging consequences of tarrying.

First, tarrying wastes today’s time that you can never get back. Time is a gift that can never be given again. To waste time tarrying is to tell God that the time He has given you is not important. You have to understand that every moment wasted on tarrying is time that could have been used to further God’s purpose in your life. To put things off for a better time is to waste one of the greatest gifts God gives to you, time.

Second, tarrying infringes on tomorrow’s ability to get things done. Whenever you put things off, you are hurting tomorrow’s ability to focus on tomorrow’s responsibility. If you spend your time today trying to make up for yesterday’s procrastination, you will find your tomorrow’s will not be as productive as God intended for them to be. Trying to catch up because of your procrastination only wastes your potential and ability to advance.

Third, tarrying always makes bad things get worse. The more you put off the things that you don’t want to face because of how bad they are will only make them worse tomorrow. If you think what you don’t want to face today is bad, wait until it grows into a worse situation tomorrow. I have found that as bad as things are that you face today, they are better to face today than to put them off to face tomorrow as they have grown worse.

Fourth, tarrying affects others that you never thought it would affect. You are unintentionally hindering others when you choose to procrastinate because you are not doing what you are supposed to do today that which will influence others to do right tomorrow. Tarrying always affects more than you; it affects others.

My friend, stop putting off that thing you don’t want to face. You will do your future a great service by never allowing tarrying to become a habit in your life.

Author: Allen Domelle