Matthew 25:21 “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.”
In Jesus’ parable, there were two servants: one was proactive; the other was reactive: Fyodor Dostoevsky understood this. He said (“You wicked, lazy servant!”) before being thrown out. He wasted what had been entrusted to him.
That’s what reactive people do – and often I have to admit I am reactive rather than proactive. When we’re reactive, we’re driven by feelings, circumstances, or conditions. We procrastinate, we wait. But if we wait to be acted upon, we will indeed be acted upon; whereas proactive people are driven by carefully considered and internalised values, so it’s as if they carry their own weather with them wherever they go, and make things happen.
Everyone is predisposed to being one or the other. I suspect most of us are more on the reactive end of the spectrum. In the Bible, love is a verb, but reactive people make it a feeling. However, if our feelings control our actions, as Stephen Covey says, “it is because we have abdicated our responsibility and empowered them to do so. Proactive people make love a verb.”
Remember, we are responsible (i.e. response-able) for our actions or inactions, for how we use or misuse our God-given talents. Is there something you need to do today that you’ve been putting off? Is there an initiative that God’s been laying on your heart? Is there a relationship issue that needs addressing? Anything else you can think of? Come on, finish reading this, pray, and then go and do it, for Christ’s sake!
Lord God Almighty, forgive me for the times, gifts or opportunities I’ve wasted. Help me choose to be proactive today. Amen!
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