What’s a shadow activity? In April, Brandy attended a conference where you could pick from a variety of workshops to attend. She picked one on perfectionists, and said, “I am sure you are shocked to learn that I struggle with perfectionism. As I like to call it, I am a recovering perfectionist. If you are not one, you may be surprised to learn that perfectionists struggle with, and sometimes refuse to, complete an activity or task that they know may not turn out “perfect.” So instead, they perform a similar activity or task, that makes them feel like they are doing work, but really, they are just avoiding the task that needs done.

 

Friends, I am going to be perfectly honest. I do this all the time. And here’s a hard truth, you probably do too. For example, I have a looming deadline, but instead of tackling it, I check my emails. Or, I really should make a hard phone call, but instead, I call my sister. Or even better yet, I know that I need to clean my house, but instead, I settle for making the piles smaller. What about you?

 

Eternally speaking, these situations aren’t horrible. But what if we start doing shadow activities in place of things the Lord has actually asked us to do? The Lord asks me to have a salvation conversation with a coworker, instead I just pray for someone else to do it. Or the Lord prompts me to send a gift card to a struggling family, instead I send them an encouraging text. And this one might really stick, the Lord calls me to be passionate about the things that break His heart, but my extent of my involvement consists of “likes” on social media.

 

What shadow activities are you participating in? Maybe one of those is your stance on life. What does your involvement in the pro-life movement look like? What does your desire to serve your community look like? Where does your involvement in the things that break God’s heart lie?