Routines.
They are blessing. They are curses.
A routine is what has kept me sane for as long as I can remember. Anybody that knows me well enough knows that I keep a pretty detailed calendar on my phone; it's even gone as far as to include "Go to Bed" at 11 p.m. every night so that I am reminded every day when I need some sleep before the next morning.
My routine is what helps me know what is coming up next. My routine is what allows me to feel like I am in control of my life.
There in lies the problem with routines though.
Control.
We are not meant to have it; we are not meant to live for what we want. Far too often, I let my desire for control dictate my routine.
““Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’””
I grew up in the church. Went to church every Sunday morning and Wednesday night, and that routine was a constant growing up. I grew up knowing who God is, but I didn't know what he wanted from my life.
Now I knew the church answer to that statement, but deep down I didn't really know.
Why didn't I know? I wasn't taking the time to figure it out.
Time is expensive, and for that reason, I used to justify not spending time reading my bible because I had other things to do. That busy schedule that I had total complete control over was filled with so many things, that I told myself that there wasn't any time for God in my daily routine.
It's tempting to want instant gratification with our relationship with Christ. We see others who seem to have everything figured out and are on fire for God, but we don't take the time to change up our routines to reflect this desire for our own lives.
We don't take time to read and pray.
We want a faith that is gratifying but we don't want to take the time to get there.
We want to know God's plan for our lives but we don't take the time to read and pray to discover what it is.
Routines can be difficult to change. But the silent routines of everyday life, like spending time every morning in the Word and in prayer, are the most important routines we will ever have.