Delayed or postponed action.
(Note: I meant to put this up yesterday, but I didn't get time until today! :)
Sometimes we value that which we can gain in the short term more than that which we can gain in the long term. But is it really worth more?
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Everything was going well for me. I was working on videos, composing a soundtrack for one of them, seemingly having plenty of time... Then, one morning, a reminder popped up on my computer – the day before a deadline. Instantly everything was chaos. School was left behind, and even guitar practice was shortened; preparing to register for the ACT (the deadline was the last day of registration) was top priority. I called the test center, and asked if they were offering the test at the next test date (in February) but as it turns out, they only do it once a year, in December. So I had to get this done in time, or else wait a year!
As things turned out, I did manage to get all my school papers together, and averaged the grades, so I could report my GPA on the registration forms. And I did finish the registration... 2 hours before sunset on Friday afternoon!
While I was working on finding papers, grading, and averaging my scores, I realized that the things which had been taking up my time now seemed worthless. My soundtrack could wait. The videos could be edited later. In the face of a deadline, these things seemed dull and unimportant. I valued taking the ACT far more than getting a perfect soundtrack for a video, yet I gave more priority to the soundtrack; until the time came to register.
This was just a test. If I make a poor score on the ACT, I have the option to take it again, and hopefully do better. But if I run my spiritual life that way, I am setting myself up for disaster. The ACT is just a way to assess academics. But when the time comes for my life to be “tested” by God's law, no amount of scrambling to get ready will remedy insufficient preparation.
I don't want to let anything get in the way of that preparation...
