Death by Convenience

Hey You. Are you able to identify the things in your life that may be dying at the hands of convenience? Is it your health? Is it your God-given assignment? Is it your fervour? Your intimacy with God? Your intimacy with your spouse, your partner or your friends? You could probably think of a few things off the top of your head. Fortunately for us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, many of these things can be nursed back to health. Like most posts, this one has been heavy on my heart cause well… it’s first a conviction and lesson for me, then through me.

As you can already tell from the title, this post is on some serious stuff… yeah, “death” in the title hints at that. I don’t know about you but personally, convenience is one of the biggest giants I contend against in my christian walk. In a sense, when I think about it deeply, that is actually part of the package for all believers. Certainly, choosing Jesus as Lord is not convenient…. people generally like to be their own Lord. The people that naturally always want to be told what to do, and how to do it are few are far between(to put it mildly … ‘non-existent’ seems more appropriate). Choosing to follow Him is not only costly, but can be wildly uncomfortable at times. Choosing to die to your flesh daily is anything but convenient. So yes, I guess in some regard, we can all relate. Though this may show up differently in our lives, that tells me we all could benefit from this read. Let’s dig a little deeper.

First, let me start by acknowledging some; I’m inspired by people that have mastered the art of inhabiting uncomfortable spaces, those who consistently yield to instruction immediately despite inconvenience. If that’s you, thank you for setting that example. It boasts of discipline, commitment and courage, it’s commendable. If you’re not there yet, it’s okay, it’s achievable. We’ll get there.

There are many things that contribute to the death of certain things in our lives. Things that suffocate(or try to suffocate) the birthing of glory through God-given assignments. As you read that, you could probably name a few culprits in your life… some more obvious culprits are lust(which can lead to your sexual impurity), greed(which can lead you to covet) or even pride(which can lead to rebellion). A less obvious one is convenience(over obedience). I’m talking about choosing the ‘minimal effort involved’ option to getting a thing done…usually to our detriment.

Classic example: consistently living on fast food will satisfy your hunger temporarily, no doubt. However, the cumulative effect could lead to obesity, organ failure, diabetes, etc. In Heb 12:1, Paul says “…Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” I’ve seen convenience be one of those weights at times, and one of the ways in which the pursuit of convenience has shown up in my life without knowing it is procrastination. Yes yes, I know way too many people can relate to this one. I have a life scripture that immediately comes to mind when I think of this;

"Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
    If they watch every cloud, they never harvest." Eccl 11:4

Many of us have different reasons why we procrastinate. It may be the most convenient thing to do simply because it allows you to not confront your fears. Or because life is simply overwhelming right now and launching that thing right now just seems non-ideal. Or due to laziness. Or self-doubt. Or exhaustion. Whatever the case is, I have learnt that inactivity may be a passive choice but it often results in active consequences. Now hold on, please hear my heart, it is very important to learn to be still, to wait and to rest. It’s part of the rhythm of our lives and a test of trust. So is the instruction to move, to plant and to water. Procrastination applies to a season where movement is required. Complacency, indifference and convenience have something in common, they are all seemingly passive stances with active consequences.

This thought came to my mind some time ago, I believe the Lord might have been using it to explain to me in simple terms; Imagine you just got a plant (say heyyyy! fellow plant moms and dads. Lol, jk, I can barely relate). For most plants( apart from the obvious choice for me – snake plant), a lot of care and watering is required to keep them alive. It is not enough to buy it and root it in soil, it must be catered to and cared for. If I choose to do nothing simply because… I’d rather not, that choice is not inconsequential and would likely result in the death of that plant. Death by convenience, get it now? Another classic example is the choice to consistently live on junk food. Getting snacks from the convenience store and your fav combo from your fast food joint of choice is fast and convenient alright. AND it could also kill you – Death by convenience. Convenience is enticing, I’ll tell you that first hand. Yet, it is also not worth the trade-off – short term satisfaction for long-term consequences. Not worth it. Doing the hard, inconvenient but wiser thing on the other hand? Certainly sounds like a killer deal to me – Short term discomfort for long term satisfaction.

Needless to say, the more convenient choice is not always the better one. Many times, it’s also not the most beneficial either. Paul said it best;

“Everything is permissible for me, but not all things are beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything [and brought under its power, allowing it to control me].”
[1 Cor 6:12]

This verse perfectly segues into another thought I’ve been having with this convenience thing – idolatry. I was torn between the current title of this post and “the god of convenience”. I’ve come to realize that some of the things that seem a bit grey can easily fall into the category of sin simply because we elevated convenience over obedience to God. Yupp. A sensitive topic immediately comes to mind…. but this ain’t the post for that, I’ll leave it your imagination to fill in the gap as you’d like.

Waiting for what you think would be ” the best time” against God’s instruction to move now is not as harmless as it may seem. There can only be one god on the throne of your heart and each time we choose convenience, comfort, flesh, etc above Almighty God, we dethrone Him as Lord of our lives and sit another in His place. Seeing it that way certainly hits different. We as humans can get so used to compartmentalizing Holy Spirit’s rule in our lives! It’s like, “Sure I’ll obey you here, but not there! That one’s off limits Lord“. Well, it doesn’t quite work like that. Scripture says ;
” Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” [Gal 5:25].

I’ve had a couple of things that the excitement for has waned over time in my life. Fear and excitement can co-exist you know? And there have been times where I’ve procrastinated doing a thing for so long, I lost my desire to execute. Dreams have died in the hands of convenience. Assignments have been re-assigned due to a man’s commitment to convenience. Blessings have been missed out on due to allegiance to convenience. People have died due to the elevation and improper prioritization of convenience!

Convenience serves now at the expense of later.

 I’ll tell you something else the Lord revealed to me – the addiction to convenience is showing an area not fully yielded to God. If it was, the fruit of self discipline would be born. Ouch. Convenience serves now at the expense of later. I heard a pastor once say “The heart of a bandwagon believer is convenience but the heart of a devoted disciple is committed”. My prayer for us all is that we will commit to doing the work we’re called to diligently despite the temporary inconvenience and sacrifice because we know the fruit is well worth it. May the Lord help us and continue to empower us to honour Him with our ‘yes’- in words and in deeds in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

The addiction to convenience is telling of an area not fully yielded to God.

“You’re sitting on gold, start digging”. That phrase has been on repeat in my heart and mind for some time now. Honestly, you have no idea just how much you may be giving up because you’ve chosen a more comfortable or convenient path. Is it aligned with the way God told you to act? If it is, pleaseee by all means, proceed. But when convenience bucks up against obedience, we have a serious problem and it’s costly. It costs you and I. It costs the beneficiaries of those called to the assignment. It robs God of Glory. The value of silver and gold goes up with the measure of purification and refinement it has been through. The value of a diamond goes up with the cut and pressure it has endured. Neither of those processes are convenient but dang well worth-it. Sooo, get to digging my friend.

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P.S: You probably don’t need to know this but blogging on here is pretty conversational for me, so I love to fill you in on some real time stuff. I’m geeked because it’s a new day and the Lord has highlighted this topic again by not one but two preachers who were talking about completely unrelated topics. Hey now, don’t come over here with that “it’s coincidence” talk lol, my God is way too intentional for all that. Anyways, since I wrote the chunk above, apart from some preachers highlighting it, I’ve also gotten new fresh downloads that I have to share so hold tight for Part 2! (I figured this post was getting too long so why not?! Might have a pod to go along with it too.) It’s already partly in writing and it may be just what you need to get out of that rot you find yourself in. Eccl 7:12 says “…only wisdom can save your life”.

You know, my phone wallpaper for a few months now has been Prov 21:5… how interesting lol. I had no idea I’d be sitting here writing this post at the time but ain’t that just like God? It reads;

"Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity,
    but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty."{Prov 21:5}

Emphasis on the “hasty shortcuts”… sounds like convenience to me. Our definition of convenience as highlighted in the beginning is “involving little effort”. This cannot be a substitute for seasons where hard work is required. We’ll pick up from here and get into the ‘why’ in our next post.
Till then, I hope today’s post blessed you. We go higher next week! and We go deeper!

Love you and
God. Loves. You. More. 💕

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