What are your excuses?
I’ve got many to fit any circumstance. Because I can be an excuse pro.
Why not go over to that group of ladies and join in? Because they probably don’t want me barging into their conversation.
Why not send that message to someone who is going through a hard time? Because I’m sure they have close friends and family and don’t need me right now.
Why not try that new machine at the gym? Because I bet people will look at my like I’m an idiot who can’t do anything right.
Why stop my network marketing business? Because I’m an introvert and no good at talking to people anyway.
Why not speak up in that meeting to share my opinion? Because I know that I’m probably wrong and everyone there will think I’m stupid.
The Father of Lies
See, I’m a professional excuse-maker. And all my excuses focus on me and what I perceive I lack. Excuses are Satan’s language, my friend. Excuses are how he manifests his lies into our actions. Excuses are how he gets us to do exactly what he does or doesn’t want us to do.
What are your excuses?
Oh but Satan is good. He’s fluent in the language of Lies, and excuses are lies that fit our own lives perfectly. Satan knows exactly how to make us believe them by doubting our own self-worth.
Excuses stop us from our reaching for our best lives. I know because it’s the excuses that almost stopped me from recovering from my eating disorder. When Benj told me he had made the appointment for me at Melrose, I had all the excuses right at the tip of my tongue in milliseconds – because Satan passed his fluency on to me in the space of a heartbeat.
“But I have to give parent teacher conferences that week and I can’t miss those.”
“But our boys’ first swim meet ever is that week and I can’t miss that!”
“But there’s nothing wrong with me – I just like to watch what I eat and exercise to be healthy.”
“But I can’t ask my principal to find a sub for me for an indeterminate amount of time.”
“But I can take care of this on my own, or at the least I’ll find a counselor around here that I can talk to.”
“But . . . But . . . But . . . “
Excuses Make us Comfortable
Excuses stand in the way of our best life because we allow them to pin us down where we are comfortable. My comfort may have resulted in the disintegration of my relationships, the failure to do my job well, the degrading words I spoke to myself – but at least I knew what to expect each day. I didn’t have to live in fear of the unknown – even if the known I lived in each day was draining my life away.
Excuses settle us into being stuck while telling us we are right where we should be.
What are your excuses?
I don’t need friends – I’m fine with that. I don’t need to reach out to people – they’re fine without me. I don’t need to do something new – I’m fine where I’m at. I don’t need to learn something new – I’m fine never growing or expanding myself. I don’t need to voice my thoughts – I’m fine keeping them all to myself.
Excuses Separate us from People
But friends, this isn’t just about me. This isn’t just about you. Yes, we can be fine keeping to ourselves and doing the same activities day after day and never opening ourselves up to other people or experiences. But by doing that, not only are we limiting our own lives, we’re limiting the impact we can have on others.
What if what I have to add to a conversation could open a new way of thinking? What if what I have to share could change someone else’s life? What if the encouragement I can give could be the impetus to drive someone else forward? What if my choice to recover could fuel someone else’s courage to fight for their own life?
This impact does not put the focus on “me”. The impact we can have on others brings glory to the One who created us. This impact focuses on the perfectly orchestrated connectedness God calls each of us to nurture. God calls us into community for reasons we may never know. But in his infinite wisdom, he knows exactly what our words and actions could mean to another.
Excuses not only stop us from growing, moving, and living, but the excuses we give stop the flow of connection with others. We are made for each other. We are made for community. By believing the excuses we give ourselves, we allow Satan to block us from building community through our actions and words. Satan loves our isolation.
Excuses kill growth in all directions. Satan’s goal is to kill hope, to kill joy, to kill community. If we live in isolation and hopelessness, it’s like putting a petunia in a dark closet without any water. We kill the beauty of life.
So, what are your excuses?
Excuses Need to Be Fought
Lets all of us make this commitment today: Recognize the excuses you give yourself. And then push through each of them to the other side of fear.
Don’t second guess yourself. Don’t drown your spirit in excuses. Don’t believe Satan’s lies. Open the door. Pick yourself up. Set yourself in the sun. And water your life. Grow into the full life God has created you to live.
Recover from this disease. Build community. Push past the fears. Live where it’s uncomfortable. Don’t settle into a rut simply because it’s what you know. Don’t allow excuses to become your fluent language.
You are made for more. Surround yourself with truth in who God made you to be. The only way to do that is to read his words to you in his Word. Find people who build you up and push you to be better. Open your mouth and ask for help. Open your heart and cry to God who hears you, empowers you, and equips you for the hard.
Excuses are easy. Let’s not live easy. Let’s live free of fear, in community and connection, on the other side of every excuse Satan plants in our heads. Weed those suckers out and let the sun shine on God’s truth in your life. And we will find out how beautiful God created our lives to be.
What are your excuses?
I hope you see them for the lies they are.
