Routine

10/12/2006

What if God died?
What if the Lord of the Universe was suddenly gone from our daily lives?
What if we could no longer call out to Him at any given moment?
Would we miss Him?

Why do we miss someone when they depart this earth? We miss them because they are usually a part of our daily routine, or maybe a part of our weekly routine, whatever the case may be. We miss because when we would normally be able to pick up the phone and call them, we no longer have that option. We miss them because when we would normally see them in our home, at the office, in the grocery store, at church, in the neighborhood…they are no longer there to be seen. They are gone from our lives and there are adjustments that must be made.

Recently, I said goodbye to a good friend of mine. She was part of my daily routine--so each day now, I miss her. I have to remind myself that I cannot e-mail her, and I cannot pick up the phone and call her. I cannot spend the day with her or have coffee with her; I must adjust to a new routine of living life without her now. This is possible, and it will happen, but it takes some time to get used to—it takes time to fill in the “blanks” of this daily routine with something other than time with this friend.

I know these things will work themselves out and I will have a new routine one day, and my heart will not miss so much. How do I know that? Because it has worked itself out before in my life after the death of our son. It’s not that I don’t think about Phil each day and talk about him at least that much…but he is no longer a part of my daily routine. I no longer expect to see him as I go about my day. I no longer expect to pick up my phone and call him wherever he might be. I no longer look for him as I return home from a day at work. I know he is gone, and my heart and my mind have accepted that this is the new routine I live in each day. The adjustments have been made after some time has passed, and lots of prayers have been prayed…and I have seen God’s healing power in that. Phil is gone, for now, but I will see him again.

But what about our Lord?
How much is He a part of our daily routine?
Do we take for granted that He will always be there to hear our call, to fill in the blanks of our lives, to pick us up when we have fallen down?

In the NIV Bible it says we are to pray “continually.” In the NLT Bible it says, “Keep on praying. No matter what happens…” (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18) What does that mean, and how do we do it? I have to believe it means incorporating God into our daily routine, so much so, that if we were suddenly without Him, we would miss Him with all our heart, and something would have to be done about it. God longs to be our Friend…He wants us to miss Him if we are not spending time with Him. That’s the way He designed us!

Just while writing this, the Purpose Driven Life Devotional came through…I heard, “You’ve got mail.” So I read it, and the first paragraph of today’s message says:

“Worshiping God involves counting on him as your friend. This may be a new thought to some who are used to thinking of God as more aloof and distant when it comes to a personal relationship with any of us. It is much more common to think of God as high and lifted up than to think of him as a companion. That may be because he is high and lifted up, and his glory fills the whole earth. But the truly amazing thing about God is that he will relate to any of us as a friend. He meets us at our level, and in doing so, confirms both our intrinsic value and our value to him.” (Oct. 5th John Fischer)

If God values us so much, shouldn’t we feel the same about Him? If He wants to be our companion, shouldn’t we be honored by that? We value our friends, don’t we? And we know that without contact with them on a regular basis, those relationships would fade into the background of our lives…until eventually; we might end up calling them an acquaintance rather than a friend.

Relationships take time and effort, but they are well worth it.
The same is true of God.
If we do not miss Him when we get busy, can we really call Him our Friend?

Let’s think about the things that are part of our daily routine…I know mine includes coffee and pecans in the morning. It’s a comfort to me to get up and make some coffee and grab a handful of pecans for breakfast. Then I know that “My Utmost For His Highest” is waiting for me--as I am reading it through for the third year in a row. Oswald Chambers has insight into the ways of God that still amaze me as I read them over and over again. I would miss this part of my day if I did not have it. From there, it leads me into some part of God’s Word and into a time of prayer to put the day into the proper perspective. I don’t wake up with the “proper perspective,” that’s for sure! I am not a morning person, so adjustments need to be made immediately!

Some days I have more time to spend than others, but each day, this has become routine for me, and I would miss it should it be taken away. It reminds me that it’s not “all about me,” and that God has a much bigger plan than what I can see when I wake up blurry-eyed and grumpy. I like the saying, “Sometimes I wake up grumpy…sometimes I let her sleep.”

In each new day, we can’t know what to expect…one phone call could change everything, one second with our eyes on the radio instead of the road could alter the course of our lives, one word spoken could bring encouragement or hurt…life quickly changes direction, but one thing always remains constant, the love God has for us. It is always there, even if we are not aware of it. We are in God’s daily routine, we are part of His every moment as He cares for us and directs our steps. He never stops thinking about us…ever!

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.”
Psalm 32:8 (NLT)

Is that a good Friend, or what? There is Someone to always be with us and watch over us and guide us along the best pathway possible. Who doesn’t need someone like that in his or her life? It’s no fun to go it alone…sometimes we just can’t see what’s what without someone there to help us.

Recently, a friend of mine and I made a visit to a woman in the hospital. To say the woman we met was difficult, would be putting it mildly. She is struggling, and she is not her own best friend in this situation. Those called in to minister to her are surely challenged, as my friend and I were on this day. We went in knowing that without the full armor of God on (Ephesians 6:11), we could become prey to the enemy that is seeking to destroy this woman’s life.

As we entered her hospital room, she was so glad to see us. She was alone and scared. She was not in the best of health, obviously, she was in the hospital, and she longed to be released and get her life back again. This woman has no family, and no friends to speak of, so God is providing those who will tend to her needs and help her to know that He is with her.

But just as she needs friends to visit her and care for her, God knows we need friends to go with us and to strengthen us on the visit. That was clearly seen on this day. What I could not see in ministering to this woman, my friend could. What she could not see, I could…and we were much stronger together than we ever would have been on our own.

In Mark 6:7 it says Jesus “called his twelve disciples together and sent them out two by two, with authority to cast out evil spirits.” It then goes on to say in verses 12 and 13 that they “went out, telling all they met to turn from their sins. And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil.”

This is hard work, ministering to those that are not all that interested in God’s desire to be the light in their life--but it is rewarding work, especially when shared with a friend. The end results we may never see until we get to Heaven, but the earthly impact it has on our lives are a shared event that we will never forget.

As we returned to our car on that day, we were in awe of God’s amazing power through His Word and prayer when nothing else could meet the needs of a person in such a dire situation. Nothing on earth could seemingly help her, but we still had something to offer…the Hope we have in Jesus Christ.

God is there, waiting for us to turn to Him, to hope in Him, to talk with Him, to depend on Him, to be His friend. He is always calling us…are we answering? Or, is it in our daily routine to ignore Him and plan on getting to Him later…when we have some time?

But what if…that time ran out?
What if…God said, “That’s enough. I’m done waiting for you.”
What if…we called out to Him, and He was gone…
How would our day look then?

Would we rise in the morning with no One to talk to over our first cup of coffee? Would we get in our car and drive to work with only the radio to keep us company? Would we look up into the beautiful blue sky and have no One to thank? Would we get a phone call from the doctor with some news that was disturbing and have nowhere to offer up a prayer?

We may not think God is in our daily routine…we may know that our devotion to our Lord could be so much more, that we could read our Bibles more, pray to Him more, depend on Him more, love Him more…and that is probably true of all of us, but if God were suddenly gone from our daily lives…I believe we would miss Him more than we could ever know on this day--because He is still with us even when we ignore Him. He is still faithful, even when we are not.

Sometimes, routine means a habit formed, like reading our Bible each day and praying each day and obeying each day…those are great habits that are formed in a believer’s walk. But sometimes routine is more than a habit formed; it is a way of being that runs deeper than we realize, something we don’t even give much thought to. It’s something that we take for granted, thinking it will always be there.

In talking with my daughter-in-law yesterday, she was explaining to me how our oldest son gave up smoking recently. He is only in his late 20’s, so it’s not like it was a 40-year habit, but still, it was a habit he had formed. When he would take a break at work, the cigarette was there to keep him company. When he would watch football, it was there, when he would finish a meal, it was there. A “companion” of sorts, that was easy to come by and comforting, I’m sure.

But, when it came time to put the cigarettes away, she said he found that it was not so much of a habit of addiction as it was a routine that he was used to. It was what he did, almost without thinking, and when he stopped, adjustments had to be made to accommodate for the change in his routine. It took some time, but he has adjusted and he no longer needs the “companionship” of a cigarette. As a mom, I’m thrilled!!

For some of us, we have formed the habit of spending time with God. We are aware that a discipline of prayer and study and fellowship and attending church and reaching out to others is the life we choose to live now. We know, beyond a doubt, that should God suddenly vanish in our world, we would miss Him with all our hearts. That is a good thing, not a bad thing. In that, there is gratitude for all that God is and does in our lives each day. He is our Friend and we love Him consciously.

For others, God is not so much of a habit, as an unconscious routine…something that exists behind the scenes of the life they live. If asked, they would probably say they don’t really need God, even if they do believe in Him. He’s a convenience when something happens that they need some help with, or a back-up plan when their own strength fails them, or a last ditch Hope should life throw them a curve ball…but for the most part, they don’t give God a lot of thought. But, take God out of the picture, and I think most people would be shocked, not only personally but also shocked by the actions, or lack of action, of those around them.

As my friend and I sat with this woman at the hospital the other day, I asked her if she knew why we were there? She said that she did not. I tried to explain to her that we were there because God loves her, and that He had sent us to be with her. I don’t think she could really grasp all of that, but we could, because we knew that humanly speaking, we would have chosen to be anywhere else on that day…anywhere but in a hospital, speaking to a woman we did not know, and who was not easy to be with. Remove God from this world, and she would be alone. Not only spiritually speaking, but physically speaking also!

I’ve heard that that is Hell…the absence of God. Some may have different ideas about what Hell is or is not, but to take God out of any equation, would be Hell, right here on earth. Even if we do not believe in God, He is there. Even if we do not obey God, others do, and their actions affect our lives. Even if we don’t even realize we are obeying God, there are times when we do because His power is greater than any other power on this earth. He governs all and has the final say. We live under God’s authority and we are recipients of His love even if we don’t notice Him in our daily routine.

If we think we miss the one we love, try living without the One who loves us! We love because God first loved us…that’s the bottom line. (John 4:19)

Of course, our routine each day should include some time with God. For believers, we understand this, although many times we don’t make it a priority. There is a discipline to it that seems to lack the fun we are looking for, but when attended to, there is a joy to it that goes beyond anything this world has to offer. A concentrated time with our Lord each day reaps benefits that are well worth the time spent. To then go on praying “continually” happens naturally as we are more acutely aware that God is working through us and around us at all times. We notice Him, and are grateful for all that He provides.

As we were getting ready to leave this woman’s hospital room after a difficult visit, another friend came by for a visit…another woman who was willing to love because God had first loved her. For all of us, our daily routine had been “interrupted” by a call from our Lord, and we chose to answer His call. God asked us to offer His love and acceptance to this woman who was confined to her hospital room--to let her know that she too was being called…to give her the choice to answer or not. We don’t know what her answer will be, but we do know that God is watching over her. He will never leave her…

And He will never leave the rest of us either!
God will never die!
God was, is, and will always be!
We are in His daily routine.
Is He in ours?

The least we can do is acknowledge that we miss Him in the busyness of our day, and make plans to spend some time with Him as soon as possible—just like we would a good friend! It’s never too late as far as God is concerned, He will always be there…we won’t!

Desiring more of Him,

Diane