A habit of reluctance can seriously harm your life …

There are some people who make a habit of waiting too long, and the results can be very negative!

Some years ago there was a disastrous flood in the town of Yorkshire in north east England. A man on the reservoir saw the water rise to a dangerous height. He paced up and down for twenty minutes watching, hesitating, and asking himself the question, “Shall I give the alarm?” The fatal moment came; the warning had not been given. The waters rushed over the banks and spread destruction on every hand. A decision twenty minutes before would have saved many lives and thousands of dollars’ worth of property.

Someone once wrote, “Upon the plains of hesitation, bleached the bones of countless millions who, on the threshold of victory, sat down to wait, and waiting they died.”

If you’re one of those people who routinely hesitate, you’ve likely suffered for doing so. Consistently being reluctant can impact a life in serious ways. Reluctance:

• • Reduces and sometimes ruins relationships. An unwillingness to interact in a timely way can cause some people to withdraw, or even to walk away from a relationship. That’s because many interpret reluctance as a lack of commitment or wholeheartedness.
  • Often results in missed opportunities. Many of life’s most important opportunities are available for only a short window of time, and may not be offered again. Hesitating may cost you opportunities of a lifetime.
  • Minimizes quality of life. As a person misses opportunities because they were too reluctant, they reduce the quality of their life to what’s left from missed opportunities.

What’s behind the hesitance of some people?

A sinful heart. Luke 17:32 is a verse that is just three words long in the NIV Bible: “Remember Lot’s wife.” Her hesitancy in embracing the deliverance God provided resulted in her being turned into a pillar of salt. A lingering taste for sin made her reluctant in responding to God, and that reluctance ruined her.

A judgmental heart. Jonah’s reluctance to obey God was rooted in a judgmental heart. After Jonah finally preached the message God wanted him to deliver, we read in Jonah 3:10, “When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.” That should have been great news that brought rejoicing to the preacher, but not Jonah …

“This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: ‘Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen,'” Jonah 4:1-3.

Jonah’s judgmental heart made him reluctant to obey God. Many of us behave the same way today.

A lack of faith. Let’s face it, many times we fail to act or respond in a timely manner because we really don’t trust God.

Fear. Many people fail to respond to issues or opportunities in life because they’re paralyzed by fear. They entertain all kinds of horrible “what ifs,” and the resulting fear causes them to hesitate.

Sefishness. We can be reluctant to do even the things we know we should do because we really don’t want to do them, we would rather do something different. Such reluctance is something James warns against: “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it,” James 4:17.

Are you a reluctant person? Is your life plagued with a habit of hesitancy? If so, what is the cause for it? How might your life improve by learning to interact without irrational or sinful hesitations?

Scotty